"C" Field - Semi-Finals

(LEFT)Starting the "C" field semi-finals were Monty Stotz (near lane) continuing his good luck ways with a winning 4.503 - 154.64 that was enough to make up for his late leave (.197) and defeat Justin Herbst (far lane), who took a five hundredths advantage at the green and hold the lead until the 300' mark, but saw his 4.767 - 133.93 fall short at the finish line

(RIGHT) The last race of the semi-finals saw both racers sit for a rather long time at the line, as Mike Buchanan's .265 reaction time actually outdid Ivan Mercer's even worse .462 effort. Once they actually got in motion, Mercer's 4.551 - 160.20 overcame his late launch deficit, and easily covered Buchanan's 5.170 - 129.80 losing pass

In the "C" field final it was Monty Stotz (near lane) taking the win in the "Blue Thunder" Camaro in his Funny Car Chaos debut, over Ivan Mercer in his "Mac, Cheese & Joe" entry

Closing out the "B" field eliminations, it was Jeff Cameron in his "Jake's Speed Shop" car (near lane) taking the win over Jeff Krug in "Obsession" (far lane)

In the "A" field final for the BIG money ($5000 + contingencies to the winner), it was Kirk Williams in the "Williams Bros. Racing" entry (near lane) doubling up with his second event win of the day over Ken Singleton in the "High Risk" entry in the far lane. With the win, Williams moved into a tie for the points lead with Singleton at the halfway point of the season

As an added bonus for the fans, they finished the night with an impromptu match race between a funny car, Steve Vang in the near lane, matched up with the "Game Xchange" Jet Dragster of Ray Kelley in the far lane. No times or speeds recorded

It's the fourth installment of the eight race schedule for the FUNNY CAR CHAOS CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR (2021), this week at Eddyville Raceway Park (Oskaloosa, IA) with our southwestern correspondent and ace photographer BIG Bob Snyder on hand to provide us with news and photos of the action. Two qualifying sessions were run last night, with the second round run under the lights and there were some great performances from the 27 cars that made it to the starting line. We'll start with the first session photos, then fill in the details and get the second session posted later today.

There were four no-shows from the pre-entry list, with the "Chi-Town Hustler", owned and driven by Mike Minick having the tow rig break down enroute, while another nitro burner, Vic Tiffin in the "Gold Digger" was unable to appear due to a back injury. The other two no-shows, Robin Rish and Jim Hidy went AWOL and aren't on the next event pre-entry list either.

(LEFT) This is a weird looking photo, with smoke billowing off the tires, lots ofdeath smoke coming out of the pipes and a big redlight showing on the tree. It's hard to believe that Chuck Loftin could be having this much trouble on the launch in his "Motivation" Mustang, but judging by his #26 showing on the qualifying list with a 9.694 - 51.53, all the clues must add up to a wasted attempt and some wasted parts

(RIGHT) The surprise of the season is the string of strong performances out of what should be the most underpowered car in the field, but Jade Cook and her nitrous assisted "Nemesis" continuing to make good on that nickname for the car as her 4.388 - 156.47 effort put her solidly in the middle of the "B" field at #12

(LEFT) Making her series debut was Mary Reep in the flopper-bodied "Grim Reeper" after a decade or two of competing as an Outlaw Fuel Altered. She made her first passes count, finishing the day in the #7 spot on the list with a very good 4.096 - 181.97 pass to her credit

(RIGHT) Series regular Chris Schneider in the Troxel & Schneider "Brutus" put down a decent opening pass of 4.323 - 165.93 that left him in the #10 position, well into the "B" field going into Saturday's final qualifying session. As always, the fans loved his seriously smokey burnouts

(LEFT) After a strong performance at the season opener at the Texas Motorplex with several runs in the 3.80's, FCC sophomore Levi Keenen put down an excellent 3.892 - 189.47 in his "Illinois Thunder" Arrow that saw him finish the day in the #4 spot, in the middle of the "A" field

(RIGHT) We're not 100% certain that this is John Umlauf Jr. (or is it Sr.?) in the "Mass Chaos" car, but his name appeared well down the qualifying sheet in #20 at 4.697 - 101.90 and a spot near the bottom of the "C" field. This car has much more potential, but he's only got one more chance on Saturday to show what it's capable of

(LEFT) Getting more than a little sideways coming out of the water is the familiar "Wicked Weekender" of Oklahoma's Steve Vang, and he put himself near the top of the "B" field with a Friday best of 4.252 - 160.37, leaving him in the #9 position

(RIGHT) This is the first of the NHRA Top Alcohol "refugees" to show up in our coverage as the Williams Bros. team, with Kirk Williams driving blasted into the 3.70's for the provisional #1 qualifying spot at 3.732 - 200.62. In the final qualifying session tomorrow he will face Ken Singleton in the rain-delayed final round from the previous race at Odessa, TX

(LEFT) Blitzing the tires on a big burnout, the "Detroit Tiger" of Steve Timoszyk blasted out a 4.049 - 173.08 to place him in the #6 position and solidly into the "A" field as he returns to the FCC circuit after skipping the last two Texas events

(RIGHT) Making his first appearance at Funny Car Chaos, Michigander Phil Landram launches his Camaro-bodied "Easy Money 2.0" to a mediocre best for the day of 6.882 - 66.86 that ended up in the #25 spot on the list and just below the bottom of the "C" field. It may be the perspective from the angle of the car, but it appears that the body is much wider and a little longer than the chassis as the wheels are oddly inset front and rear

Here's two views of Chris Foster, burning out (left) and launching (right) in what he hopes will be "Everybody's Nightmare" as he returns to FCC for the first time since last season's visit to Eddyville. He's usually seen at NHRA races but likes to run with the Chaos crew when they come to Iowa, and he made a decent pass on Friday, despite shutting off early to a 4.342 - 129.80, good for #11 on the list and a spot in the "B" field

(LEFT) Warming the tires on the "Jake's Speed Shop" entry, Texan Jeff Cameron fell just short of the provisional "B" field, with a 17th best 4.513 - 149.60 pass leaving him well down the ladder

(RIGHT) Looking like the same story as Kirk Williams's as Robbie Massey made his first FCC start since last year's Eddyville race, with the expanded name "Moats & Massey & Grimm" on the car this year. Despite much race action over the past 18 months, Massey put down an excellent 3.875 - 190.19 that held up for the #3 on the ladder and possible lane choice in the first round of eliminations in the "A" field

(LEFT) Our last pair of cars in the first qualifying session featured another series newcomer and longtime NHRA Top Alcohol runner, Lance Van Hauen in the Van Hauen Bros. entry that didn't set the timers on fire with a first effort of 4.873 - 109.46 that left them in the #21 spot and in the middle of the "C" field

(RIGHT) Leaving hard in the beautiful "Man O' War" nitro-burning Mustang, Shayne Lawson broke into the 3-second zone with a very good 3.992 - 168.22, albeit with a slowing speed as he crossed the finish line. That placed him #5 on the list and well into the "A" field going into the evening session

Moving on to the second qualifying session, with cooler temperatures and presumably slightly better track conditions, we've got the under the lights shots to show you. With the longer days as we near the summer solstice, the skies don't get really dark as at the races earlier in the year, making for easier photography and better images. Even better, we've got lots of side-by-side shots in this batch. Since we don't know which session each racer turned their best times, we've only listed their best e.t.'s and speeds for the day.

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(LEFT) Coming out for his second shot at the track, Chris Foster in his black and red "Everybody's Nightmare" failed to improve on his earlier 4.342 - 129.80 clocking

(RIGHT) Here we've got Foster launching his Top Alcohol car in the near lane, while Levi Keenen in the "Illinois Thunder" is putting out some flames on the far side. As with Foster, he failed to improve on his earlier 3.892 - 189.47 clocking

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(RIGHT) Burning out before making his second qualifier, Kirk Williams in the "Williams Bros. Racing" entry stayed with his best of 3.732 - 200.62 and held down the #1 qualifying spot going into tomorrow's final qualifying session

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It seems like we've just barely finished posting the photos and some of the story from the Good Vibrations March Meet in May event and we're already prepping for this weekend's FUNNY CAR CHAOS event in Oskaloosa, Iowa, home of Eddyville Raceway Park, site of race #4 on the 2021 schedule for the FCC gang. Our photographer, Bob Snyder is already on site and will be sending us photos of all the action from Friday's qualifying and Saturday's final qualifying and eliminations. Then it's down the road a piece to Kearney, Nebraska's, Kearney Raceway Park for event #5 on the FCC schedule next weekend. It's going to be a busy month here, with even more race coverage coming from Bandimere Speedway over the next six weeks too. Stay tuned for all of that... and more.

For this weekend's FCC event at Eddyville, there are 31 cars pre-entered, including several newcomers to the circuit. Easily one of the most recognizable names from the history of Fuel Funny Car racing is the iconic "Chi-Town Hustler" and it will be there, driven by Mike Minick, the grandson of the original Chi-Town driver, Pat Minick. Joining the Hustler team will be another NHRA Top Alcohol "refugee" as Lance Van Hauen will bring his "little big show" car into the Chaos corral for the first time, joining Chris Foster, Kirk Williams and Bill Naves as four TA/FC's will compete with the assortment of blown fuel and alcohol and nitrous injected (Jade Cook and her "Nemesis" entry) cars for this event.

And as an added bonus, Wulff Pumps has stepped up with the money to support another "C" field, giving 24 cars a chance in eliminations. But wait... there's even more! There's four injected funny cars and a pair of Jet funny cars running too. It's guaranteed to be quite a show, and we can hardly wait for the first batch of photos from Big Bob tomorrow. Stay tuned for that and more this weekend.

We've got the first installment of photos from Sunday's eliminations at the Good Vibrations March/May Meet and they show most of the finals in the sportsman and some of the PRO categories. Our hard working correspondent started the long, hot drive home from Bakersfield at 4:00 a.m. today and won't be sending any more photos until at least tomorrow. That will give us a bit of time to catch up on all the great photos he sent us over the past week and fill in the blanks (details and captions) on the race. Stay tuned to this page for regular updates throughout the next few days.

(LEFT) Running all by himself at this point, as his red-lighting opponent kept the pedal to the metal, the Hot Rod Eliminator winner, Marvin Rules in his flamed '73 Vega took it easy enroute to the winner's circle with his 10.320 - 131.78 taking the automatic winlight

(RIGHT) The D/Gas final between Tony Citro in the '75 Camaro (near lane) and Don Fournier in his beautiful '48 Anglia (far lane), went to Fournier as his 10.631 - 112.49 was more than enough to cover Citro's slowing 10.904 - 95.35 pass

(LEFT) Doing almost everything right, by leaving first and running quicker, the runnerup in B/Gas, Val Miller in his sharp looking '71 Cuda, gave it all away with a breaking-out 8.572 - 154.37 against the 8.60-index, giving John Saliani (not shown) the win with his safe 8.649 - 156.05 effort

(RIGHT) In the A/Gas final, a pair of Chevys battled it out, with Roy Castagnetto in his '67 Nova (far lane) taking the win with a dead-on the index 7.600 - 174.05 run, as Rich Harrison and his '69 Camaro (near lane) was just a hair slower at 7.615 - 178.76 for the loss. Making the race even closer was the (.031 to .034) reaction time advantage which went to Harrison, making the finish line margin just twelve thousandths of a second

(LEFT) In a real old school-looking race, the Nostalgia Eliminator I final featured the winner, Steve Schoenfeld in his "Buddy's Toy Too" altered (near lane) running close to the 7.60 index, with his 7.634 - 165.31 coupled with a good reaction time of .030, forcing Dustin Lee (far lane) in his dragster into a breaking out 7.586 - 171.51 in a futile effort to overcome a slight reaction time disadvantage (.045 leave). It was close at the finish with just three hundredths separating the cars

(RIGHT) In Nostalgia Eliminator II, an 8.60 index class, winner Terri Scaduto (far lane) in her front-engined dragster took the win with a 8.604 - 156.57 pass over a breaking out Sam Tucker, as his 8.586 - 153.75 in his bright white '32 Bantam was just a little too quick. It was a close launch for the competitors, with Scaduto's .022 light just edging out Tucker's .030 leave. The margin at the finish line was only one hundredth of a second

(LEFT) The Nostalgia Eliminator III final featured a double breakout on the 9.60 index, with Don 'The Kid' Morris (near lane) the worst offender, giving away the win despite a 9.519 - 132.23 pass, and making Ed de Staute (far lane) with his 9.554 - 139.63 in his '59 'Vette. De Staute left first (.026 to .064) which made for a photo finish, with just .003 separating the cars at the stripe

(RIGHT) Moving up the performance ladder to Junior Fuel, the ageless veteran Don Enriquez, wheeled partner Bob McKray's dragster (near lane) to yet another winner's circle appearance, with his final round 7.229 - 185.54 (on a 7.14 index for the "C" class car) holding up for the win. In the far lane, runnerup Brad Woodard in his "A" class car, running on a 6.89 index, lost with a very good 6.975 - 189.66 effort. Showing that age hadn't slowed his reflexes, Enriquez left first on Woodard, by a margin of .018 to .025, and his small holeshot held up for a four thousandths of a second lead at the finish line

(LEFT) Here's the runnerup in the A/Fuel Dragster class, as Sabrina Capps left waaay too soon (-.253 redlight) and threw away a competitive 6.366 - 207.72 effort

(RIGHT) This photo clearly shows the big lead that Sabrina had due to her early leave, as the automatic winner, Kin Bates in his "U.S. Air Force" car, put down a very good 6.156 - 226.24 pass for the win

In case you're wondering what the Nitro Pro Comp category is all about: it's a grouping of what was intended to be a rear-engined Top Fuel class with specs from the first generation (1970's) of the back-motored diggers. They tried to promote it at the Hot Rod Reunion for a while, but never attracted more than a small handful of competitors. Now they've opened it up to the "homeless" dragsters, and the occasional flopper that can't run with the "big boys" in the Nitro Nostalgia Funny Cars class (AA/FC).

(LEFT) Here's the Nitro Pro Comp final, with Billy McDevitt in the "Borjon Auto Center" dragster (near lane) trailing perennial winner Mike Halstead in his "Mike's Transmissions" entry at the 1000 ft mark. After near identical reactions, Halstead coasted across the line with his 5.955 - 185.38 barely covering McDevitt's fast closing 5.990 - 237.92 pass. The gap at the 1320 mark was barely a car length

(RIGHT) We've got a single shot (so far) from the AA/Fuel Altered final round, with runnerup Johnny West up to speed in his "Plan 'A'". He lost due to a -.012 redlight and shut off to a coasting 7.157 - 140.93 as Eric Gates took the win at a leisurely 8.913 - 98.26 in his "Agent Orange" entry

Here's the CIFCA (California Injected Funny Car Association) "B" field final round, showing James Maher in the "Junior Vibes" '85 Ford Tempo (near lane) taking the win with a 7.143 - 186.30 (just over the 7.10 index) over Pete Ortiz Jr. (far lane) in his mean looking '97 Olds Cutlass "Outcast" who clocked a 7.382 - 192.28 in the losing effort. Making it close at the finish line was Ortiz's reaction time advantage (.046 to Maher's .161), which left Ortiz .128 behind at the quarter-mile mark

(LEFT) Seemingly running by himself, Adam Sorokin in the awesomely cool looking "Champion Speed Special" took an easy win (6.158 - 202.00) in the first round of Nostalgia Top Fuel (AA/FD) eliminations, as opponent, and top qualifier, Bret Williamson, in the "Forever Young" entry, smoked the tires and shut off to a 13-second clocking

(RIGHT) In the next pairing, Dan Horan Jr. (near lane) looks to be slightly ahead of opponent Frank McBee Jr. (far lane) as they pass half track

(LEFT) A closeup of Frank McBee Jr. as he speeds away

(RIGHT) Heading for the top end, it's Dan Horan Jr. (near lane) coming from behind to take a 5.824 - 244.25 win over the good effort of Frank McBee Jr. in the "Valley Thunder" (far lane), who trailed with a solid 5.954 - 248.75 clocking. Leaving first by an .052 to .125 margin, McBee came close to catching Horan at the finish line, but fell a little more than a car length short

(LEFT) We now move to the first round of eliminations for the AA/Fuel Altereds, running on a 6.00-index. In the first pair, it's Arlington, Washington's Tom Padilla in his "Red Dragon" (near lane) '27 T-truck pulling ahead of James Generalao Jr. and his "Impatient" entry, but breaking out in the process, wasting a fine 5.968 - 216.20 effort, to hand the default win to Generalao's slowing 7.349 - 124.59 run

(RIGHT) It looks like a bit of a runaway win for Pete Peterson (near lane) in his '48 Fiat Topolino in the next pair, but his just-too-quick 5.910 - 227.96 was another breakout (and low e.t. of the round). Taking the win was Eric Gates (far lane) in his "Agent Orange" '23 'T' with a decent 6.384 - 203.74 effort

(LEFT) In a first round battle in AA/Fuel Altered, Mark Whynaught in the sinister looking "Nitro Mamba" '23 "T" (near lane) took the win with a 6.109 - 202.97 over the breaking-out Nick VanHorn in the "Panic!" '32 Bantam (far lane), as his quicker 5.976 - 246.57 was just under the 6.00 index. Leaving .046 later than the winner, VanHorn really kept the pedal down, evidenced by the HUGE top end speed, in a futile effort to take the win

(RIGHT) Moving to the second round of eliminations (first round run Saturday evening), the Nostaliga Funny Cars (AA/Funny Cars) saw the pair of Kamaka Pocock in Don Nelson's "California Hustler" (near lane) matched up against the "Northwest Hitter" of Bucky Austin, wheeled by Bobby Cottrell. After a near even leave, Cottrell's low e.t. and top speed of the meet 5.605 - 262.64 covered Pocock's very game effort of 5.745 - 252.47 for the win and lane choice in the semis

The last pair of the round featured Michael Peck Jr. in the Quote Wizard-sponsored "Instigator" (near lane) taking an easy win over Brad Thompson (far lane) by a margin of 5.708 - 258.37 to the losing 6.458 - 158.84 for the "Jailbreak" Camaro. Despite a better reaction time (.047 to .111), the gap at the finish line was several train lengths as Thompson's car trailed several pistons worth of "death smoke" on the top end (right photo)

Moving on to Nostalgia Top Fuel (AA/Fuel Dragster), the first pair had Tyler Hilton in the Jim & Allison Lee-owned "Great Expectations III" running away from Jim Murphy and his "WW III" entry, taking the win decisively with a conservative 6.201 - 237.84 clocking against Murphy's coasting 12.469 - 68.39 effort. On the right, we see Hilton nearing the finish line

(LEFT) With only three cars in the Nitro Pro Comp class, there had to be a loser in the first round of eliminations, and it was Jeff Utterback in the "Advanced Surfaces" '74 Vega, dropping a not-even-close decision to Mike Halstead, as Utterback's 7.43 - 124.97 was a long way off the 5.90 class index.

(RIGHT) Seen here in the first round of eliminations, the eventual NE1 (Nostalgia Eliminator 1) winner, Steve Schoenfeld in the "Sonny's Toy Too" altered, as he tested the 7.60 index with a free pass when his opponent broke before staging. Schoenfeld's 7.598 - 174.62 was just two thousandths under the index to indicate that he was dialled in almost perfectly

In case you're wondering why we're not getting any top end shots or closeup starting line shots, there's two reasons: one, media credentials were allegedly in short supply (according to Famoso Dragway management), hence we have our correspondent shooting from the spectator side grandstands, and secondly, as you'll see in the photo below, there's a virtual tent city erected over the top rows of the pit side grandstand, preventing him from getting high enough above the track to get any really good shots.

You've got to get there pretty early in the morning to snag a spot at the top of the grandstands for your pop-up canopy

We've got photos from Saturday's final qualifying sessions, starting with Xtreme Pro Mods West, then moving right into the Nostalgia Funny Car & Top Fuel classes, followed by some of the California Injected Funny Car Association entrants, and finishing with the always popular and unpredictable AA/Fuel Altereds. Hope you enjoy them!

(LEFT) While not strictly speaking a nostalgia class, with the 2014 Challenger of Troy Ferry in the near lane, the Pro Mods put together a fairly tightly bunched field, with a quarter second separating the top seven qualifiers. Ferry's best time in qualifying was for the #7 position, while Jeremy Hanger in the Kirk Kuhns '59 Corvette held down the #3 spot with a solid 5.930 - 240.17 effort

(RIGHT) In the near lane, veteran Sean Renteria topped the field in his unique '65 Valiant with a very good that held up as low e.t. of the event. In the far lane, Josh Kalish nearly broke into the 5's with his '53 Studebaker, just falling short with a 6.027 - 239.48 to slot into the #6 spot on the ladder

(LEFT) Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Brad Thompson's System One sponsored "Jailbreak" car, but we managed to snag a pic of his helpful BUG (Back-Up Girl). We can however, report that she must have helped as Brad snuck into the bump spot with an improved 6.033 - 211.96 that was good enough to anchor the field

(RIGHT) The first pair of cars we can show from the final AA/Funny Car qualifying session are Billy Morris and his Camaro-bodied "Problem Child" in the near lane, paired up with the Northwest's Michael Peck Jr. in the Quote Wizard-backed "Instigator". Morris stepped up in a big way on his last shot, climbing from the #19 spot all the way to #6 with a very good 5.727 - 247.02, while Peck picked up a tenth and five mph, to move from #12 to #8 on the final qualifying list

(LEFT) One of the longest competing Funny Car teams in the pits, the Van Gundy, Clark & Monise group, with their iconic "Quarter Pounder" (near lane), were barely hanging on to a spot in the field with a 15th best 6.098 - 219.40 from Friday, but they pumped up the volume to the tune of a 5.813 - 232.75 to move up to #13 in the field. In the far lane, the "Cacklin' Critter" Challenger of Matt Melendez kept the throttle open to the finish line, picking up a full tenth from his Friday best of 5.923 to a #15 qualifying 5.852 - 233.20

(RIGHT) Running by himself in a last ditch attempt to stay in the field, Terry Jongewaard in the '79 Omni failed to hang onto to the bump spot (from Friday) as he couldn't improve on his earlier 6.136 - 232.43 and ended the weekend in the 2nd alternate spot and an early trip home

(LEFT) Before we move on to the Top Fuel Dragsters, Don Nelson's "California Hustler", with Hawaiian import Kamaka Pocock at the wheel,

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Returning to the nostalgia ranks for a one-shot appearance was Jason Rupert, filling in for the unavailable owner/driver of his former ride (Pete Espeseth), as Jason made his first pass in his old car in two and a half years. Showing absolutely no rust after his long layoff, Rupert pushed his old mount to a 5.719 - 254.42 on his first pass

We've fallen victim to a modern inconvenience: a sloooooowwww wi-fi connection at the motel, as Dale Fackler is slowly sending us the results of all his hard work from the grandstands at Bakersfield yesterday. We've got one photo so far, with Dylan Winefsky making a test pass in father Robert's "Nitro Moose" AA/Fuel Altered. The plan is for 16-year old Dylan to finish licensing in Tucson, then take over the reins from his dad, who's making his final driving appearance at this year's Good Vibrations March Meet.

Making one of his first launches in a seriously powerful AA/FA, young Dylan tests the Famoso traction

We lead off today's photo coverage of the March Meet with the always popular 7.0 PRO class, then it's straight into Junior Fuel, followed by A/Fuel Dragster. Note that two combinations are allowed in A/Fuel: injected on nitro or blown on alcohol. Junior Fuel is just injected nitro with small block (mostly Chevy) engines.

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(LEFT) Making another pass in his 7.0 PRO '32 Bantam roadster, Vince Generalao Jr. lights up the hides on the burnout

(RIGHT) Bannering a name that's been around the sport of drag racing since the 1950's (!), Chris Bates is wheeling the "Boudakian Racing" 7.0 Pro '23 "T" roadster

(LEFT) Ageless veteran Don Enriquez is still at it, and very competitive, in his Junior Fueler

(RIGHT) Coming all the way from Melbourne, Australia is Shayne Stewart (near lane) and he lights the tires right off the line in his A/FD, while in the far lane, Arizona's Rick Ewens leaves hard with the tires hooked up

(LEFT) In the near lane, Kris Krabill got acclimated to his new ride in the "Screamer", with a half track pass (6.79 - 139.06, while in the far lane, Matt Melendez carded a solid 5.90 - 230.61 in the "Cacklin' Critter" Challenger

(RIGHT) Two more of the regulars on the Heritage Series circuit came out next, with Billy Morris in the "Problem Child" Camaro (near lane), while Matt Bynum (far lane) wheeled the "Cecil Matthews Motorsports" entry to an early shutoff 6.16 - 183.22

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(RIGHT) Las Vegas resident James Generalao Jr. tested the 6.00-index for the AA/Fuel Altereds and found he had a little too much power as he clocked a "breaking-out" 5.89 - 211.36 despite lifting off the loud pedal at the 1000 ft mark

(LEFT) Bringing out the "Capitol Punishment" Camaro for the first time in more than a year, Tony Jurado put down a very impressive 5.75 - 222.66 even though he was off the throttle early

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Getting in a solid pass was Jim Murphy in his WW III entry as he laid down a 5.91 - 249.53 (near lane), while on the far side, the unique looking and sounding (small-block Chevy power) "Champion Speed Shop Special" driven by Adam Sorokin shut off early to a 6.48 - 162.18

It's May 27th today... and here we are featuring the Good Vibrations March Meet being held in late May for the first - and hopefully last - time of the year. Our Colorado correspondent made the trek across the mountains from the Denver area to sunny central California, and the warm environs of Famoso Dragway in beautiful Kern County. Yesterday's early test 'n' tune saw numerous cars testing the track; most for the first time in 2021, and for some, the first time in nearly a full year. We've got the first batch - of what promises to be many - photos coming to Northern Thunder over the weekend. Remember to keep refreshing the page each time you visit to see the latest additions to our coverage.

Racers from the Group 1 & 2 categories were allowed to make two test passes yesterday, and today all racers, except Top Fuel and Funny Car make their first qualifying runs. The nitro racers have a test session in the late afternoon, early evening hours and that promises to be quite a prelude to the full-on action that starts tomorrow.

We start our coverage with two pics of Johnny Kirschenman in his - and I'm just guessing here - '55 T-Bird flopper. He runs as part of the CIFCA (California Injected Funny Car Association) and they will be an official eliminator category at this year's running of the March Meet. While some of the cars are still injected, most are running blown alcohol engines as the group is trying to stay relevant in this age of very fast race cars

(LEFT) Another of the CIFCA cars, this time Rick Alvarado and his "Little Mighty Mouse" entry

(RIGHT) We move to a Nostalgia Eliminator 1, with Sabrina Pecora in her '37 Fiat Topolino (near lane) lined up against an unidentified early Hemi-powered dragster in the far lane. These cars run on a 7.60 index

(LEFT) Moving down one notch to Nostalgia Eliminator 2 (running on an 8.60 index) we've got Jim Miller in his "Compulsive Obsession" '29 Ford Roadster (near lane) paired up with an unidentified stretched altered in the far lane

(RIGHT) It's Robert Johnson in his injected dragster (near lane) running against Steve Olmscheid's '23 Ford altered "Bad Ass" in the far lane

(LEFT) It's "Kin Hee's Revenge" (hard to decipher the Olde English script) and the competition number isn't in my database (aka: Drag Race Central)

(RIGHT) We've got the details on this pair: George Chatterton in his '37 Fiat Topolino "Hitman" (near lane) and Adam Westbrook in his '32 Bantam roadster (far lane)

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Stay tuned all weekend as there's much, MUCH, MUCH more to come.

We received a bonus in the email inbox this morning: a set of pics from Saturday's "Napa Auto Parts Night of Fire & Thunder" event held waaay up on the mountain at Bandimere Speedway (Morrison, CO). Besides a host of NHRA classes, a pair of Quick & Fast 16 eliminators, a pair of Jet Dragsters, the feature was eight honest-to-goodness nitro-burning AA/Fuel Altereds. It was a cold evening and the fuel altereds only got to make one pass, but there were some great runs and lots of exciting action. Check out the latest from our High Country correspondent, Dale B. Fackler.

PS: An even bigger bonus is that he sent these photos while enroute - no, not while he has driving - to Bakersfield, CA. Can you guess why? Yes, it's the 63rd annual Good Vibrations March Meet, running (hopefully!) for the first and last time in May. While spectator attendance is limited, and media credentials are virtually nonexistent, Dale is taking his long lenses up to the grandstands and we hope to see some more of his great work throughout the coming weekend and on into next week.

Then our Southwestern correspondent, BIG Bob Snyder takes over as he hits the highway for the loooong drive from Phoenix to Oskaloosa, IA for the next event on the FUNNY CAR CHAOS calendar, from Eddyville Raceway Park. But wait, there's more! He's staying in the midwest for the following week's FCC event at Kearney Raceway Park (Kearney, NE). Then we flip back to the NHRA regional event Thunder on the Mountain at Bandimere Speedway on the following week (June 18-19). Looks like we're going to be a little busy over the next month.... despite a total lack of drag racing up here in the "Great White North". One of these days... weeks... months... years?

Leading off the AA/Fuel Altered show was the well known local Jackson family team, with Keith Jackson at the wheel of their "High Heaven". His run was somewhat off-pace, shutting off early to a 7.058 - 136.83 time, and falling to Keith Wilson's (not shown) much better 6.175 - 236.54 effort in the "Witch Doctor" Fiat

(LEFT) Itinerant fuel driver, Roger "Radar" Lechtenberg (near lane) starts his burnout in the "Nitro Madness" Fiat, next to opponent Neil Hinman (far lane). Lechtenberg took a decisive win with a solid 6.373 - 217.21 over Hinman's trailing 8.421 - 98.48 clocking

(RIGHT) Here's a nice shot of Hinman launching hard, with the wheels up against Lechtenberg

Here's two more shots of Hinman as he continues downtrack with the front wheels still in the air. He finally gave up the chase and brought the front end down, coasting to the finish line and an 8-second timeslip

(LEFT) The next pair featured two veterans of the sport, with Jim Maroney (currently running NHRA Top Fuel) driving Jim Broome's "Speed Sport Special" (recreating a very famous name from the early days of fuel racing in the late 1950's), and he cranked out a very good 6.094 - 230.06 pass

(RIGHT) Running alongside him - at least for the first few hundred feet - was Johnny West, current tuner for several NHRA Big Show cars, and his Plan "A" "hobby car", but he was off the throttle early, shutting down to a 6.648 - 149.78 timeslip

Here's another view of the Plan "A" as it marches down track

The last pair of fuel altereds saw Lyle Greenberg running a single, as opponent Sean Cash broke after the burnout. Greenberg didn't spare the horses as he pushed the "Cone Hunter" to a career best 5.833 - 240.81 to set low e.t. and top speed of the event. The numbers eclipsed his best effort of 5.84 in the Top Alcohol Funny Car that he used to run

Another view of Greenberg heading towards the top end, and the scoreboards lighting up the best numbers of the evening

(LEFT) Looking for all the world like he should be in the Fuel Altered show, Joe Percoco was running his "Bat Outta Hell" blown alcohol altered in the Madcap Racing Engine Fast 16 eliminator, and he ran well in qualifying, with a 6.62 - 210.82 in Q1, and a 6.589 - 197.80 in Q2. Unfortunately, a redlight in the first round of eliminations ended his evening, despite running an even better 6.572 - 206.35 for the loss

(RIGHT) Having worse luck was Shawn Fisk in his clean looking front-engined dragster, as he broke before staging in Q1, then shut off (or broke) early in Q2 with a 7.655 - 145.38 coming up on the scoreboards. With 44 cars attempting to fit into 16 spots in the field, and an eventual bump spot of 7.013, his evening was over early.

One side note to the Fast 16 field: Besides a Funny Car Chaos regular, Tom Furches, in his "Made in America" Funny Car, there were two women competing who had very familiar names, at least to High Country fuel racing afficianados. Betsy Peek and Debbie Renck. The Peek Brothers Top Fuel team ran for many years until the early 2000's, with their biggest achievement being arunner-up finish at the 1996 NHRA U.S. Nationals with rookie driver Tony Schumacher behind the wheel. The Renck name is famous for long-time Colorado fuel racer Ed Renck, who was the Division Five Top Fuel champion several times and qualified at numerous national events.

(LEFT) We finish this report with the pyrotechnic portion of the event, with the Jet Dragsters "Volcano" (near lane) lighting it up against the "Wicked Sensation" (far lane)

(RIGHT) A very excited young spectator is in seventh heaven soaking in all the sights and sounds of the fast... faster... fastest cars, courtesy of her grandfather

A wild, wet weekend at Baytown, Texas' Houston Raceway Park finally wrapped up when the a-day-late MOPAR Express Lane SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil was completed earlier this afternoon under threatening skies and in front of a minimal audience. Thankfully, the rain held off long enough to finish eliminations and send everyone home to rest up until the next event on the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule.

With our emphasis at Northern Thunder on the Top Alcohol categories, we've posted the updated points standings both the Dragster and Funny Car categories (see below). In the meantime, we can give you some of the details on how the two categories fared at the weather affected event. With just twelve Dragsters and only seven Funny Cars in the pits, it wasn't guaranteed to be a BIG show, but what it lacked in numbers, it certainly made up for in quality.

In Top Alcohol Dragster, the first eight qualifiers - in the one and only qualifying session - were in the 5.20's, with the top half of the field anchored with newcomer Madison Payne's career best 5.256 - 260.06 pass. In case you're wondering, she is the daughter of longtime and recently retired Top Alcohol and Funny Car racer Jay Payne and Shelly Payne (nee Anderson). In case you don't remember, Shelly was a very competitive Top Fuel driver in the 1990's and the daughter of legendary parts manufacturer Brad Anderson. Quite a racing pedigree for young Madison.

Leading the qualifying list was one of the three blown alky cars, that of perennial national championship bridesmaid Shawn Cowie with a very quick 5.224 - 275.62 from his Mundie's Towing entry. He kept up the pace in the first round as he easily dispatched Karl Brounkowsku with a consistent 5.225 at a slightly early shutoff 266.53 speed. But in a portent of things to come, Cowie only had the second quickest run of the round as Rachel Meyer turned up the wick to a 5.195 at a booming 280.49 mph for low e.t. and top speed... so far.

In the second round, Cowie earned a bye run into the final (due to the odd-lot 12-car field), and stayed right in the 5.20 groove, clocking an excellent to oust another of the A/Fuel hitters, Robin Samsel. Again, it was only second quickest of the round as Ms. Meyer put down a 5.200, at an even bigger 280.95 mph to move into the semi-finals.

Cowie didn't take it easy on his semi-final bye run as he laid down another great 5.222 - 274.50 to move into the finals. However, his opponent for that round, Rachel Meyer, laid down the bomb of the event, obliterating Jasmine Salinas' good 5.266 - 260.26, with a near career best of 5.143 - 282.01 to re-set low e.t. and top speed, and take lane choice for the final.

Knowing they were going to have to go for broke to have a chance in the final, crew chief Norm Grimes dialled in a little too much of something as the car shook hard before clearing the 60' clocks. Cowie did a quick pedal job and stayed on it to the finish line, clocking a speed of 270.21, but coupled with a 5.632 e.t. In the other lane, Ms. Meyer turned on the winlight with another huge run, slightly slower at 5.150 - 279.32 to take the event win and close the gap on the national points leader Jackie Fricke in the process.

Over on the Top Alcohol Funny Car side of the pits, the nine pre-entered cars became only seven when qualifying started, and just five when eliminations began on Monday morning. It's becoming rather concerning with the low Funny Car entry counts on the national and regional level, and we will write about what's happening in that regard soon. Meanwhile, to the SpringNationals story for the floppers. The two cars that withdrew from the race after qualifying were the husband and wife J&A Services team from Colorado, Jim and Annie Whiteley. With business interests to tend to, and no guarantee that eliminations would even be completed on Monday, they made the decision to load up and head home on Sunday.

That resulted in three bye runs and a single pair on Monday, leaving quite a hole in the show. While the cars that remained included some of the top runners in the class, the entertainment value was somewhat limited. Qualifying saw two of the top three drivers in the national points standings matching wheels and producing a great side-by-side 5.496 - 267.22 for defending series champion Doug Gordon, and a very close 5.497 - 266.95 for serious contender Bob McCosh Jr.. Next on the list - and well back in performance - was Annie Whiteley, at 5.574, and from there, two cars were in the 5.60's, with the balance trailing far behind.

The only pairing of the first round saw former national champion (2017), Shane Westerfield break into 5.40-zone, with a best of the round 5.487 - 268.01, which temporarily set top speed of the meet. McCosh and Gordon kept pace with 5.50 and 5.51 passes, respectively on their bye runs. In the semi-finals, things tightened considerably, with Nick Januik surprising McCosh with his best run in quite a while, at 5.478 - 265.06 to take a holeshot win over McCosh's effort. In the other pairing, Doug Gordon moved into the final with low e.t. of the meet at 5.445 - 268.23 to dispatch Westerfield's good - but not good enough - 5.528 - 268.17 pass.

The favourite going into the final was points leader Gordon, but Januik gave him a serious scare, leaving first by a .034 to .062 margin, then holding the lead until well past the 1000' mark. Gordon nipped him at the finish line by only .004 for the winlight, with a 5.468 - 268.49 clipping Januik's very good 5.500 - 265.85 for the event win.

The next national event for the Top Alcohol cars is the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Norwalk, OH in late June, but there are regional events scheduled at Reading, PA, Seattle, WA, and Denver, CO in the weeks preceding that race. Stay tuned for updates to the points standings coming almost weekly over the next few months.

We've got the photos from Saturday's eliminations at the FUNNY CAR CHAOS event at Penwell Knights Raceway in Odessa, TX. Despite threatening weather, the first two rounds and two out of the three finals were run before the rain took over and put a halt to the proceedings. The "A" field final will be run during the final qualifying session at the next event on the FCC tour, Eddyville Raceway Park.

Here's a shot of one of the non-qualifiers, as Scott "Nitro Mafia" Cousimano could only manage a "best" of 6.252 - 80.62 in qualifying. This picture pretty much sums up the trouble that the "WTF Racing" team was facing. Note the throttle position - wide OPEN - and the flames coming out under the body and through the front wheel wells. Looks like it's back to the drawing board for the Fuller & Cousimano team

Qualifying Session #3 (FINAL)

Before the final qualifying session began for the Funny Cars, a variety of support classes took to the track, and not all met with great success, as can be seen here. On the (LEFT) it appears that the "Bad Boyz" Chevy II had a "minor" nitrous malfunction, while on the (RIGHT), the Camaro SS has some directional control issues, as the obviously overpowered narrow slicks are not gripping the track very well

(LEFT) It was a case of "good news, bad news" for Steve Vang as he did improve on Friday's best of 4.442, running nearly a tenth quicker and a bunch faster, at 4.358 - 161.00, but he only improved from the #15 to #14 on the ladder and stayed near the bottom of the "B" field

(RIGHT) This is something you don't see every day (thank goodness!) at the track, as a faux Roman Centurion appears to be threatening Chris Schneider to do a good burnout before his final qualifying pass

(LEFT And it gets worse, as the "BUB" (Back-Up Bob) moves into action, directing Schneider into the best launch position

(RIGHT) With his "helper" safely removed from the starting line, Schneider moves into stage, but all the assistance he was given was no help as he failed to improve on Friday's best of 4.666 - 144.00 and fell from the #20 to #22 on the qualifying sheet

(LEFT It was a case of one step forward... two steps back, as Nick Johnson picked up a "nickel" from Friday's 4.596 to a slightly improved 4.543 - 152.03 in his last qualifier, but he dropped two positions, from #18 to #20, to the middle of the "C" field

(RIGHT) Maintaining his spot (#25) but managing to sneak into the bottom of the "C" field was Damon Kuhn as he got in due to Tod Barker's breakage. He did pick up quite a bit from Friday's sub-par 5.502 - 125.10 results, to a 5.177 - 132.39, but it was for naught as other racers stepped up also

(LEFT He didn't stand pat on his previous runs, but Jordan Ballew's improved 4.662 - 149.06 still left him in the #21 spot and in the middle of the "C" field

(RIGHT) Unable to move up as he wasn't able to better Friday's 4.244 - 165.99, the "Northland Express" dropped one spot to #12 and put Mitch Bowen in the middle of the "B" field

(LEFT In yet another case of step up or move backwards, Daniel Butherus stayed stuck on his previous best of 4.494 - 159.18 which moved him down to #19, and a spot near the top of the "C" field

(RIGHT) Another one of the "failed to improve" bunch was Lynn Logue in his "Back in Black" entry, as his Friday numbers of 4.932 - 146.72 saw him drop one spot to #23, near the bottom of the "C" field

(LEFT One car/driver that did improve was the Mustang-bodied "Man O' War" of Shayne Lawson as he jumped all the way from #12 to #6 and a spot in the "A" field, courtesy of a strong 4.021 - 184.96 pass

(RIGHT) Unable to improve on her Friday best of 4.029 - 174.76, and consequently dropping two spots from #5 to #7, Nancy Matter remained in the "A" field but faced with a very tough opponent (Ken Singleton) in her first round match

(LEFT Improving by nearly two tenths, from his Friday 4.440 - 158.39 to a 4.264 - 163.99, the "Thunderin' Okie" of Bob Alberty Jr. only picked up one spot to #13 for the first round of eliminations

(RIGHT) Not having the same luck, but still in a very good qualifying position, Doug Schneider's Friday best of 3.959 - 180.14 moved down to the #3 spot in the top half of the "A" field

(LEFT The "Red Baron", driven by "reformed" AA/Fuel Altered pilot Jody Austin didn't improve on Friday's 3.985 - 178.50 clocking and dropped down one spot from #4 to #5, losing lane choice in the first round of "A" field eliminations

(RIGHT) No improvement on Friday's numbers for Andy Mears meant that the "Dragon Slayer" slipped down the charts two spots (from #18 to #20) and out of the bottom of the "B" field into the top of the "C" group

(LEFT After a miserable Friday, with a 5.014 - 97.95 best, Bill Bernard cranked up the volume in the last session with a better 4.450 - 126.09 that showed there was a lot left in the tank, judging by the early shutoff speed

(RIGHT) Treading water and staying in the #24 spot, Dustin Bradford kept his "American Dream" alive by improving more than a quarter of a second to a 5.039 - 141.46 clocking

Pre-Race Ceremonies

Despite skies that looked a little gloomy, the pre-race ceremonies of an invocation, the national anthem, and the sweet sound of "Fire the first pair!" rang out over the P.A. system, signalling the start of eliminations

Eliminations - Round One - "A" Field

(LEFT) First out of the lanes were the #1 and #8 qualifiers in the "A" field, with Kirk Williams in the far lane putting down an excellent 3.912 - 193.05 to take out Nick Poloson's (near lane) close - but not close enough - 4.061 - 177.87 effort. Poloson left first, by three hundreths of a second, but the gap at the finish line was nearly three car lengths

(RIGHT) It wasn't scheduled to be a bye run, but when Jody Austin failed to show in the broken "Red Baron", it gave a free pass to the semi-final to Eric Eoff and he took it easy with a 17-second pass at 37 mph to save on the equipment for the next round's match against Kirk Williams

(LEFT) The next race saw the #3 and #6 cars paired up, with a little more than five hundredths (3.95 to 4.02) separating them in qualifying. Both drivers were sharp on the tree, with Shayne Lawson (near lane) leaving first by an .043 to .047 margin, but he ran into trouble downtrack and shut off to a losing 4.636 - 123.97. Taking the win in the far lane with a much better 3.995 - 177.44 time was Colorado's Doug Schneider in his NHRA Top Alcohol flopper

(RIGHT) Finishing out the first round was defending FCC series champion, Ken Singleton, (near lane) as he took a close decision based on elapsed times over Nancy Matter in the far lane. The big winning margin at the finish line for Singleton came largely from a huge reaction time advantage, as he cut a decent .097 light against Matter's rather sleepy .201 launch. The timeslip difference was much less, as Singleton's 3.960 - 190.52 covered Matter's 4.016 - 184.20, but it was all about the reaction times in this race

Eliminations - Round One - "B" Field

With a spread of four tenths of a second (4.062 - 4.467) between the eight cars in the "B" field, the "index" was set at 3.862, two tenth of a second less than the top qualifer's e.t. The intent of the index is to minimize the possibility of someone "sandbagging" in qualifying, then blowing everyone out of the water with much quicker runs during eliminations. One small caveat: the index is abandoned for the final round. It's all-out for the win then.

(LEFT) Leading off the "B" field were the #4 and #5 qualifiers, with Bob Alberty Jr. (near lane) overcoming a tardy reaction time (.223) to overcome Mitch Bowen's (far lane) much quicker leave (.084). The e.t.'s and speeds were all in Alberty's favour, as his 4.332 - 162.10 easily covered Bowen's slowing 5.129 - 107.07 clocking

(RIGHT) Next up were the #3 and #6 qualifiers, separated in qualifying by nearly two tenths, with Jeff Cameron (far lane) holding the performance advantage over Steve Vang (near lane). Vang led Cameron off the starting line (.087 to .121), but the scoreboards told a different tale as Cameron's 4.437 - 157.84 gave him the victory over Vang's 4.571 - 121.56. The margin at the stripe was a tenth of a second; just two car lengths

(LEFT) With the withdrawal of Tod Barker from the field due to breakage, surprising newcomer Jade Cook (near lane) moved up to the #8 position in the "B" field and found herself matched up with top qualifier Tim Boychuk. Running a carbureted nitrous assisted big-block Chevy, against the blown fuel Hemi of Boychuk, she left first by two hundredths (.099 to .119), then played "Jill the Giant Killer" by outrunning her heavily favoured opponent, 4.441 - 154.53 to the close, but losing, 4.512 - 163.34 effort of Boychuk. The gap at the finish line was roughly two car lengths

(RIGHT) Finishing out the opening round were the #2 and #7 cars, with Tom Furches (far lane) holding a nearly three tenths advantage in qualifying over Bill Bernard (near lane). But when it counted, Bernard turned on the (NHRA Top Alcohol) "big show" power and ran away from Furches, taking nearly a full tenth of a second lead on the launch (.037 to .128) and lengthening it all the way down track to take a decisive 4.016 - 169.17 win over Furches' losing 4.248 - 170.58 effort

Eliminations - Round One - "C" Field

(LEFT) Leading off the "C" field eliminations was Jordan Ballew on a bye run, as scheduled opponent Chris Schneider was unable to show, allowing Ballew an (almost) automatic advancement to the semifinals, and he took it easy, with a leisurely leave (.259 r.t.) and turned on the winlight with a 4.707 - 148.32 clocking

(RIGHT) The first pair of the round were the #1 and #8 cars, with a nearly seven tenths gap between them in qualifying, and that margin held in this race, as Andy Mears (far lane) laid down a solid 4.469 - 151.31 to leave Damon Kuhn (near lane) far behind as he could only muster a 5.404 - 108.10 time. Making the race look even more one-sided was the (.012 to .408) reaction time advantage for Mears

(LEFT) With nearly half a second advantage in qualifying times, Nick Johnson (near lane) didn't have to push the tree, but he nearly went too far, clocking a nearly unbelievable .0009 reaction time to open up a sizeable lead instantly over Lynn Logue's (far lane) much slower .191 launch. Johnson stopped the clocks with a 4.562 - 151.31 to trainlength Logue's 4.868 - 146.34 numbers

(RIGHT) Closing out the first round of eliminations, the #2 and #7 qualifiers met, with Daniel Butherus (far lane) leaving second (.127 to .061), but finishing first over Dustin Bradford (near lane), taking the winlight with a 4.636 - 145.96 to handle the much slower 5.031 - 142.63 pass of the "American Dream" 'Cuda

Before the final rounds started, someone at the far end of the track phoned in a RUSH order for a pizza, and the local Domino's franchise was only too happy to oblige, with their promised rapid delivery. With the 1/8-mile racing distance, it looked like their motto was "FIVE seconds... or less... or it's on us!"

Eliminations - Round Two - "A" Field

(LEFT) Getting down to the serious business of the semi-finals, Doug Schneider (near lane) took on Ken Singleton (far lane) and together they put on the best side-by-side match of the evening, leaving almost together (.035 to .038 r.t.'s, favouring Schneider). It was a different story at the finish line as Singleton took the winlight with a best of eliminations 3.904 - 192.97 that just nipped Schneider's 3.986 - 185.57. The true win margin was little more than a car length

(RIGHT) The other half of the semis featured Eric Eoff (near lane) and Kirk Williams (far lane), and it was the NHRA Top Alcohol car taking the win to advance to his first Funny Car Chaos final round. From the picture it's obvious that Williams opened a considerable margin over Eoff right off the starting line, as "Shazam!" was in trouble very quickly and slowed to a 11.064 - 50.77 losing pass, initiated with a slow reaction time (.167). Williams really turned up the wick with a new low e.t. and top speed of the meet at 3.877 - 196.42 to earn lane choice for the final

Eliminations - Round Two - "B" Field

(LEFT) Earning the first berth in the "B" final was Jeff Cameron (near lane) as he took care of opponent Bill Bernard (far lane), despite Bernard's very quick 3.937 - 174.49 pass. Bernard left first by a margin of .080 to .181, but threw it all away when he took out the finish line timing cone, disqualifying him and preventing Cameron from receiving an e.t. or speed

(RIGHT) The other racer to advance to the finals was the hard running newcomer Jade Cook (near lane) as she dispatched the "Thunderin' Okie" of Bob Alberty Jr. to move into her second final in a row, and put herself into the top ten in the points standings. She left first with a great reaction of .033, to Alberty's .053, then outran him to the stripe 4.428 - 155.82 to the losing 4.803 - 151.98 for Alberty

Eliminations - Round Two - "C" Field

(LEFT) Moving down to the "C" field, we can see Nick Johnson (near lane) opening up a sizeable lead right off the starting line, but he left a redlight on the tree, wasting a decent 4.634 - 152.08 pass with a -.189 reaction time. Opponent Daniel Butherus (far lane) took the win with a 4.587 - 155.71 pass and advanced to the final for the second consecutive event

(RIGHT) Taking the other spot in the "C" final was Jordan Ballew (near lane) as he took out the "Dragon Slayer" of Andy Mears for the win on a holeshot. Ballew's .043 to .095 reaction time advantage made his 4.516 - 155.01 turn on the winlight over the very close 4.471 - 158.23 of Mears, for the closest decision of eliminations, with just .005 separating them as they crossed the finish line

Eliminations - Final Rounds

(LEFT) With the threatening skies putting a few raindrops on the track, it was a battle between Mother Nature and the track crew to keep things running, but they were able to prevail for the first two ("C" and "B") final rounds. Taking the first winlight was Jordan Ballew (near lane) as he lit up the scoreboards, defeating opponent Daniel Butherus to take home the points, the bucks and the trophy. Both drivers redlighted, but "first or worst" prevailed, and Butherus's -.079 reaction was worse than Ballew's -.006 leave. Ballew kept his foot in it to clock a 4.609 - 154.16 pass, while Butherus coasted through at 6.433 - 71.60

(RIGHT) What turned out to be the last race of the event was the "B" final, as Jade Cook (far lane) took her first Funny Car Chaos event win over Jeff Cameron (near lane) and showed how far she has come in just a few months. The numbers indicate that both drivers were unable to hook up on the slick track, but Cook's 6.606 - 67.76 prevailed over Cameron's 7.609 - 67.58 pass. And as she did all night, she left first by a .071 to .167 margin

(LEFT) After dodging the rain drops for the first two final rounds, the track crew just couldn't keep up with the precipitation, and following a conference on the starting line between series promoter Chris Graves, and the crews of the "High Risk" (Ken Singleton) and "Williams Bros. Racing" (Kirk Williams), it was agreed to postpone the "A" field final until the next event at Eddyville Raceway Park (June 4-5th)

(RIGHT) Never one to give up easily, especially after a 700+ mile drive to the track, BIG Bob Snyder hung around under the protective covering of the timing tower until the official decision to call the event came down

While we're waiting for the Saturday photos from the FUNNY CAR CHAOS event at Penwell Knights Raceway, we've got the latest updated points standings for NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car. They include the results from the South Central Regional at the Texas Motorplex and the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals from Charlotte's Z-Max Dragway. For a larger, and easier to read, view of the standings, just click on the graphics.

NOTE: Points in red are those waived by the racers, and the entry list for this coming weekend's MOPAR Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals (Houston, TX) is as of 9:00 AM PST. The entry deadline for the event is later today but it looks like short fields in each of the alcohol categories, with just ten Funny Cars and twelve Dragsters.

While we're posting points standings, here's the latest numbers from the FUNNY CAR CHAOS crew, with the Top Twenty drivers listed. While there are eight races on the schedule, the FCC uses a "drop" race for the final points calculation, which means the lowest points earning event for each racer is dropped from their final total. If a racer doesn't attend one (or more) races on the calendar, that counts as their drop(ped) event. These results are provided with the kind courtesy of Funny Car Chaos

The FUNNY CAR CHAOS season continues with the third (of eight) events, this time at Penwell Knights Raceway at the Caprock Motorplex in Odessa, TX. With 28 cars on the pre-entry list, the three field format - which looks like it could be a semi-permanent fixture at these races - was in place. We've got the first set of photos from our "road warrior" BIG Bob Snyder, taken during the first qualifying session on Friday evening. We'll try to get the second session shots up later this evening, and hopefully the pictures and all the details from Saturday's final qualifier and eliminations on Monday.. or Tuesday. It all depends on how long it takes Bob to get home, get some sleep, and download the cache in his camera. Stay tuned!

Friday - Qualifying Session #1

Before it got loud and fast, everyone stood for the playing of the "Star Spangled Banner"

(LEFT) The first qualifying session got underway on Friday evening with Jordan Ballew sporting a new Camaro body on his well-known "Ballew Thunder" entry. His best effort of the evening was a decent 4.750 - 144.97, placing him in the #21 position on the qualifying list

(RIGHT Burning out to start his weekend, Nick Johnson in the Reinart & Johnson "Prairie Fire" entry saw a 4.596 - 149.20 come up on the scoreboards that was only good enough for the #18 spot on the qualifying list

(LEFT) The old-school "Brutus" Mustang of Troxel & Schneider, driven by Chris Schneider rang up a slightly slower 4.666 - 144.00 to slot into the #20 spot on the list

(RIGHT) Quickly climbing up the charts, rookie Jade Cook made her opening statement in the "Nemesis with a solid 4.617 - 147.30 pass that put her solidly (#19) into the "C" field

(LEFT) Despite a solid launch, Damon Kuhn's unique looking "Passin' Gas" faded later in the run, posting only a Friday best of 5.502 - 125.10, leaving him on the outside of the three fields, sitting in the #25 spot going into Saturday afternoon's final qualifying session

(RIGHT) The Canadian invader, Tim Boychuk, in his party-themed "Happy Hour" Camaro, laid down the best numbers of the early runners, landing on the #9 rung on the ladder with a solid 4.175 - 149.90. He launched hard, with the Goodyears showing some serious wrinkles, and lots of clutch dust, but it appeared from the speed that he was off the throttle a little early

(LEFT) We're still getting used to the 2021 look of Steve Vang's new body, and the ever-changing car name which is currently "Wicked Weekender Racing". He ran a little slower than normal, only slotting in near the bottom of the provisional "B" field with a 4.442 - 134.90 effort

(RIGHT) One of the "hitters" in the FCC series was out next, as Nick Poloson in the colourful Doak & Poloson "Bucket List" car nearly hit the 3-second zone, with a 4.054 - 179.93, good for the lucky #7 spot in the "A" field

(LEFT) It hasn't taken long for series newcomer Tom Furches to make his mark in the Funny Car Chaos wars, as he came into this event as the points leader in his "Made in America" and put down a 4.162 - 171.62, slotting him into the #8 position overall

(RIGHT) Taking time off from the NHRA Top Alcohol grind (he last ran a national event in 2019), Kirk Williams drove the "Williams Bros. Racing" entry to the top of the ladder, taking the #1 position with a very strong 3.894 - 195.65 to take low e.t. and top speed of the first day of qualifying

(LEFT) Surprising more than few folks with a run almost equal to Kirk Williams, the nitro burning "Shazam!" Corvette of Eric Eoff went all the way to the #3 spot and a guaranteed position in the "A" field with an excellent 3.964 - 183.80 pass

(RIGHT) The always popular '57 Chevy "Dragon Slayer" of Andy Mears put up a respectable 4.490 - 155.12, good enough for #16 on the list

(LEFT) Looking like a series regular, appearing in the last five FCC events (last season and this year), Nancy Matter in the Dale Pulde-tuned "Guardian", was way up the ladder in the #5 position at the end of Friday, with a 4.029 - 174.76 best, placing her in the middle of the "A" field

(RIGHT) Switching from an open-bodied fuel altered to the enclosed body of a flopper, the "Bushwhacker" AA/FA driver, Jody Austin piloted the Gordon & Austin "Red Baron" into the 3-second zone, with a 3.985 - 178.50, good for the #4 position on the qualifying sheet

(LEFT) From out of the high country of Colorado, Doug Schneider brought down his "Milliken Monster" and landed near the top of the heap, with a great 3.959 - 180.14 pass that trailed only the low qualifying effort of Kirk Williams

(RIGHT) In one of the most colourful cars on the circuit, second generation funny car driver, Bob Alberty Jr. pushed his "Thunderin' Okie" to a decent 4.440 - 158.39 to place him solidly into the "B" field in the #14 position

(LEFT) As the first qualifying session drew to a close, Dustin Bradford brought his bright white "American Dream" 'Cuda to the starting line and made an on-and-off-and-on pass that clocked in at 5.322 - 140.58, leaving him at the bottom of the "C" field in the #24 spot on the overall list

(RIGHT) Closing out the round with an easy checkout pass was California's Scott Cousimano in the Texas-based Fuller & Cousimano "WTF Racing" entry. He finally stopped the clocks at 6.252 - 80.62 to sit in the #27 position, leading only Randy Mueller who failed to record a time or speed

Friday - Qualifying Session #2

(LEFT) The second qualifying session opened up under the lights, with the booked-in match race between the John Robinson Turbo Diesel Dragster (near lane) against the Ray Kelley Jet Dragster, sponsored by "Game XChange", as they put on quite a show of pyrotechnics and power

(RIGHT) Leading off the competition part of the evening was the ever-popular Troxel & Schneider "Brutus" entry, driven by Chris Schneider, and he stayed with his earlier best of 4.466 - 144.00 in the #20 spot on the list and a place in the "C" field

(LEFT) Coming out for his second hit of the day, Nick Poloson finished the day in the #6 qualifying position, courtesy of a 4.054 - 179.93 effort

(RIGHT) Gaining experience and improving performance with nearly every pass, Jade Cook made her presence felt with a solid 4.617 - 147.30 that put her near the top of the "C" field in the #19 position

(LEFT) Looking to move up the ladder, Tim Boychuk (near lane) took on Andy Mears in a battle of Chevy-bodied machines, with Boychuk coming out on top for the day with a 4.175 - 149.90, while Mears trailed on the qualifying sheet with a best for the day of 4.490 - 155.12. They both ended up in the provisional "B" field with Boychuk sitting #9, while Mears languished in the #16 spot

(RIGHT) Battling for the top spot, Kirk Williams (near lane), held onto the #1 spot with a 3.894 - 195.65, while Steve Vang (far lane), sat down near the bottom of the "B" field in #15 with a 4.442 - 132.90 pass

(LEFT) Finishing the first day of qualifying in the #10 spot (near the top of the "B" field), Jeff Cameron in the "Jake's Speed Shop" car put down a very good 4.244 - 165.99 lap

(RIGHT) Hanging on to the last rung in the provisional "A" field, Tom Furches clocked in at 4.162 - 171.62 in the patriotically hued "Made in America" car

(LEFT) It's difficult to see Doug Schneider in the far lane, but he was there and happy to be all the way up the ladder in the #2 slot, courtesy of a 3.959 - 180.14, while in the near lane, Daniel Butherus could only coax a 4.494 - 159.18 out of the Chevy-powered "Rat-A-Tude". That left him in the #17 spot, just outside the "B" field

(RIGHT) Taking his shot at the top of the heap, and falling short (#8 spot), was heavy hitter Ken Singleton in the very familiar "High Risk" car. His best of the day was "only" a 4.078 - 181.60, but he still had one more chance on Saturday afternoon to improve his placing in the show

(LEFT) Not having a very good day at all, Bill Bernard ended up well down the list in the lowly #23 position, with a "best" of just 5.014 - 97.95 and at risk of not even qualifying for the "C" field. He had one more shot on Saturday to get down the track though.

(RIGHT) Always contending for the best appearing award, Bob Alberty Jr.'s southwestern muralled "Thunderin' Okie" finished Friday near the bottom of the "B" field with a 4.440 - 158.39 for the #14 spot on the ladder

(LEFT) Not quite making it all the way to the finish line under power, evidenced by his 4.279 - 157.45 timeslip, Shayne Lawson in the former Paul Romine-owned "Man O' War" Mustang, ended the day in the #12 spot in the middle of the "B" field

(RIGHT) The evening qualifying session came to a close with another pass by the "Red Baron" as new driver Jody Austin muscled it into the 3-second zone with a best of the day 3.985 - 178.50 for the #4 rung on the ladder

The NHRA put on their third national event of the 2021 season over the weekend, succesfully closing out the 40-year history of the Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at soon to be demolished Atlanta Dragway. While there were less than full fields in a number of categories (Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car), the stands were packed for the final time and a great race featured some very close competition.

With our focus on Top Alcohol, over the mainstream fan favourites of the PRO categories, we've got the latest points standings in the chase for the 2021 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series national championships in Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car. They are presented below. Racers are allowed to attend 10 national and 5 regional events, and claim points at 7 national and 3 regional events before their points earning ends. Once racers have reached those maximums, the standings will reflect which events they have waived points for.

These are the latest updated standings, courtesy of NHRA. The next two events for the alky cars occur on the same weekend (May 14-16) with a Central Regional at the Texas Motorplex, and the NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway (Charlotte, NC). The following week sees them racing at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals at Houston Raceway Park. Then the season continues with either a regional or national event - or both - almost every week until mid-October.

After a tough day of qualifying for the FUNNY CAR CHAOS crew on the little used Amarillo Dragway, conditions improved slightly for Saturday afternoon's third (final) qualifying session. With the hot sun beating down on the old asphalt, no one expected any really quick e.t.'s, but a number of racers did step up and improve their positions heading into the evening elimination rounds.

QUALIFYING - Session #3 - Final

(LEFT) First out of the lanes was the beautiful multi-coloured "High Heaven" Camaro of the Jackson family, driven by Keith Jackson. They didn't improve on Friday's best of 5.294 - 101.65, and dropped out of the "B" field, falling from #15 to #21 on the final list

(RIGHT) Making a big move upwards, Jade Cook pushed her gasoline burning, nitrous boosted "Nemesis" to a 4.757 - 144.33 to advance from the middle of the "C" field (#21) into the "B" field in the #14 position

(LEFT) Another one who made a big step up was Chuck Loftin in his nitro hemi powered "Motivation" Mustang. After a Friday best of 5.235 - 104.54, Chuck moved up four spots to near the top of the "B" field, with a solid 4.550 - 134.01 pass

(RIGHT) Coming all the way up the ladder from the "lucky" #13 position to the very top of the heap, Colorado's Bill Bernard whipped the "Hellanor" to a much improved (from 5.032 - 110.69) to low e.t. and top speed marks of 4.084 - 177.67 and the #1 position in the "A" field

(LEFT) Before they ran, some of the racers checked out the starting line, with "hired gun" Jake 'The Snake' Sanders (left) giving his advice to New Mexico's Lyle 'Cone Hunter' Greenberg (right)

(RIGHT) With no NHRA national events on the immediate horizon, Jeff 'The Surfer' Diehl (left) came out from California to give Washington state's Don 'Atomic Punk' Knoblauch ideas on how to handle the traction issues

(LEFT) Despite a solid launch, Nick Johnson wasn't able to improve on his previous 4.659 - 148.65 in the "Prairie Fire" and dropped out of the "A" field, from #8 to #11, landing in the middle of the "B" field

(RIGHT) Even though he picked up more than a half second in e.t., Tim Boychuk only climbnd two rungs on the ladder, moving up from #18 to #16, leaving him at the bottom of the "B" field with a 4.659 - 148.65 clocking

(LEFT) Showing that there's still room in FCC for an old-school, short wheelbase Vega, Mike Buchanan pushed the "Hombre" to an improved 5.050 - 141.14 pass (over Friday's 5.346 - 104.46, but fell three spots from #16 to #19, and a spot in the middle of the "C" field

(RIGHT) After a solid previous day's showing that left him #3 on the list and solidly in the "A" field with his 4.405 - 160.50, the "Northland Express" of Mitch Bowen couldn't improve and dropped down to #6 on the final qualifying chart

(LEFT) Not content to sit on Friday's 4.588 - 139.33 (good for #7), Jeff Cameron coaxed a better pass out of the "Jake's Speed Shop" car, but his 4.457 - 151.45 didn't move him up the charts and he stayed in the #7 spot

(RIGHT) The biggest improver on the property was the Kirk Williams driven "Williams Bros. Racing" entry, as he went from the very bottom of the list, in the #29 spot at 11.435 - 47.29, all the way up to the middle of the "A" field - and lane choice in the first round of eliminations - with a very good 4.281 - 163.94 pass

(LEFT) Cutting nearly a full second off his Friday numbers (5.627 - 99.27), Bob Alberty Jr. jumped up from #19 to #13 (and advanced from the "C" to the "B" field) with a much better 4.732 - 151.61 out of the "Thunderin' Okie" entry

(RIGHT) Considering all the success he's had over the past few years at FUNNY CAR CHAOS events, it was surprising to see that Ken Singleton wasn't able to improve his performance or position with the "High Risk" car. He even dropped a spot from Friday's #2 to #3 on the final list, with his Friday run of 4.173 - 142.34 standing as his best going into eliminations

(LEFT) Another case of one step forward - and two steps back - as Shayne Lawson improved from Friday's 4.560 - 120.51 to a last session 4.465 - 145.68, but saw the "Man O' War" drop from #6 to #8 on the final list and a first round pairing with the low qualifier in the "A" field

(RIGHT) Saving his best effort for last, Lyle Greenberg got down the track in an improved fashion from Friday's dismal 7.448 - 107.43 timeslip to a much better 5.699 - 112.91 in the final session. That's where the good news stopped for the "Cone Hunter" as she only moved up one spot from #25 to #24 and a spot near the bottom of the "C" field

PRE-RACE CEREMONIES and FLYPAST

Before things got down to business, the Star Spangled Banner brought everyone to their feet, on the track and in the stands

While the announcer held court in front of the tower, a group of vintage USAF warplanes and aerobatic planes did an impressive flypast

Here's three more images of the vintage warplane flypast during the national anthem. Great shots on a very clear day.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I think these last two flypast photos are of a Tiger Moth bi-plane, a favourite of cropdusters and aerobatic flyers. Corrections are cordially invited

More areobatics as the show continues in the sky. On the left we see a pair of vintage bi-planes, while on the right, a more modern version of the bi-plane with an enclosed two-seater cockpit

ELIMINATIONS - Round One - "A" Field

With the pre-race festivities out of the way, it was time to get down to business, as the first pair of cars rolled out of the staging lanes and fired up to start eliminations. Leading the way were the "A" field.

On the left, we've got Kirk Williams lighting up the tires on the burnout, while Steve Vang slows to a stop after his tire heater on the right

Kicking off the first round of eliminations, the #4 and #5 cars in the "A" field faced off. Burning out first was Kirk Williams in the "Williams Bros. Racing" entry. When the light turned green, his opponent, Steve Vang in the "Weekend Warrior" launched first (.069 to .083) but couldn't hold off Williams' 4.487 - 168.22 as his 4.610 - 135.55 fell a couple of car lengths short at the finish line

Getting a free pass when scheduled opponent Shayne Lawson sat in the pits with breakage, Bill Bernard laid down some serious power with a very good 4.114 - 176.35 on the competition bye

Here's a quartet of Nick Poloson in the "Bucket List", burning out, then launching hard enroute to the win over the no-show (broken) Jeff Cameron. Just past the finish line, it looks like Poloson got into some trouble as he bounced across the centerline when he left the prepped and sticky area of the track surface, but it didn't disqualify his 4.133 - 176.95 pass

Slowing after his burnout, Ken Singleton in the very familiar "High Risk" car (left), got set to face Mitch Bowen in the "Northland Express"

Coming off the line almost together, with an .058 to .078 r.t. advantage to Ken Singleton (left), the win went to the "High Risk" car as Singleton's 3.936 - 191.76 (new low e.t. and top speed of the meet clockings), turned on the winlight over Mitch Bowen's (right) game effort of 4.279 - 165.32

ELIMINATIONS - Round One - "B" Field

Burnout time with Nick Johnson on the left, and Jade Cook on the right

If you just looked at the e.t.'s it appeared to be a close race - on paper - but Jade Cook in her "Nemesis" entry (left) gained a HUGE advantage right at the starting line as she left a sleeping Nick Johnson in the "Prairie Fire" (right), by a .067 to .333 margin, making her 4.682 - 145.20 pass much better than needed to hold off Johnson's way-too-late 4.686 - 146.65 losing effort

(LEFT) Stopping at the end of his burnout is Matt Nissen in the "Runnin' Down A Dream" car

(RIGHT) Staged up and ready to launch are Chuck Loftin in the "Motivation" Mustang (near lane) and Matt Nissen's "Runnin' Down a Dream" in the far lane

(LEFT) Launching first (.044 to .196) in the blown alky car, Matt Nissen (right side) took an immediate lead over Chuck Loftin (left side), but the bigger horsepower of the blown fuel entry took the winlight, by a 4.535 - 162.37 to 4.724 - 149.01 decision. The gap at the stripe was barely a car length in what turned into a very close race

ELIMINATIONS - Round One - "C" Field

ELIMINATIONS - Round Two - "A" Field

ELIMINATIONS - Round Two - "B" Field

ELIMINATIONS - Round Two - "C" Field

The second event on the 2021 FUNNY CAR CHAOS calendar went off under the lights at Amarillo Dragway last night...

Winner of the "A" field was defending series champion Ken Singleton in his all-conquering "High Risk" car. Runner-up was Kirk Williams in the "Williams Bros. Racing" entry.

In the "B" field, Daniel Butherus and his "Rat-A-Tude" took the big prize, while series newcomer Jade Cook garnered the runner-up spot in her "Nemesis" entry.

And finally, the "C" field trophy went to Tom Furches and his "Made in America" team. Runner-up was Clay Cunningham in his "Still Crazy" car.

After a very successful - and that's putting it mildly - season opener at the Texas Motorplex, the FUNNY CAR CHAOS crews moved on to Amarillo Dragway for their second event of the 2021 season. With 37 cars on the pre-entry list (down a bunch from the world-record breaking 67 cars on the list at the 'Plex) it was still a very strong turnout, portending strong support for the FCC from the racers. Adding a third ("C") field to this race helped keep up the interest level among the racers and may lead to it becoming a fixture at future events. Here is the full report from the first day, Friday, with photos and results from both qualifying sessions.

After so many years in mothballs, it was very cool to see the original Amarillo Dragway sign (left) on display before qualifying, then we fast forward to 2021 and see the current "A" board (right)

A couple of pre-race pit shots are next, with Scott Pareso and the "Altered Reality" crew preparing to fire up the car before the first session, and Ray Stringer and the "Blown Cent-Less" crew spinning it over for the warm-up

FRIDAY - First Qualifying Session

After two days of inclement weather, ranging from hail and rain, to wind and sun, conditions calmed down enough for the first qualifying session at the second FUNNY CAR CHAOS event of the season at venerable Amarillo Dragway. The starting line was tacky but most of the cars lost traction at some point enroute to the finish line. And it wasn't the "Big Show" cars that invaded the Texas Motorplex last month having trouble, as none were present in Amarillo, but everyone from low-buck Chevy operations, to serious blown fuel combos that were struggling to post good numbers. We don't have the first qualifying session results, but numbers quoted in our report are the best recorded for each car after two sessions.

Two of the series regulars, Daniel Butherus (left) in his Chevy-powered "Rat-A-Tude" and Dustin Bradford in the "American Dream" (right) tried their luck and came up with varying results. Butherus ended up #9 on the qualifying list with a decent 4.672 - 152.09 clocking, while Bradford had obvious problems in his first attempt when the 'chute popped out on the launch. He kept it in to the finish line in the evening session and put down a 5.426 - 137.83 for the #17 spot on the list

Two long distance travellers came out next, with Don Knoblauch making the long tow down from Sumner, WA to run his "Atomic Punk" Camaro,(left) but not finding results to his liking as his best pass of the day was only 7.011 - 72.42, landing him in the #23 slot. Coming from even farther afield, Edmonton, AB, Canada's Tim Boychuk brought his popular "Happy Hour" entry out for the first time in 18 months, and slipped and slid to a 5.459 - 125.57 for the #18 position

Coming out strong in his "Northland Express", Flagstaff, Arizona's Mitch Bowen (left) surprised quite a few people with a strong #3 qualifying pass of 4.405 - 160.50 pass. On the other hand, Kirk Williams in the "Williams Bros. Racing" entry, didn't get very far before shutting off to a last on the list 11.435 - 47.29, only "good" for the #29 spot on the list

It looks like a full-on burnout on the left and the start of a second one on the right, but Ray Stringer in the "Blown Cent-Less" entry had major grip issues on his launch, and could only manage a best of 7.525 - 116.55 to end the day far down the ladder in the #26 position

Coming out with a new body and new look this year was Steve Vang, as the "Wicked Weekender" (left) managed to put himself solidly into the "A" field (at least provisionally) with a 4th best 4.478 - 148.40 pass. The only Chevy Vega in the field, the "Hombre" driven by Mike Buchanan (right) was well down the list, clocking in at 5.346 - 104.46 for the #16 spot

A newcomer to the circuit this year, Jade Cook in the "Nemesis" (left), didn't get too far under power, with a timeslip reading 6.060 - 78.57, only good enough for the #21 position. Faring a little better was the beautiful high country Camaro of Colorado's Keith Jackson (right), as the "High Heaven" kept the throttle open long enough to land in the #15 spot with a 5.294 - 101.65 pass

Taking up a lot of space on the page is one of our favourite FCC cars, the very photogenic "Cone Hunter" entry of Albuquerque's Lyle Greenberg, seen doing his burnout, then backing up (upper photos), then leaving the line, dropping cylinders and spinning the tires hard (lower photos). The results weren't pretty as the scoreboards told the tale with a 7.448 - 107.43 displayed

Late in the first session the Texas-based "Guardian" of Nancy Matter ran, but she didn't get very far under power and ended up near the bottom of the list (#27) with a clocking of 8.524 - 79.69. The team was obviously hoping for much better results in the evening session

Closing out the first session was Nick Poloson (right), as he topped the charts, with a very good (for the conditions) 4.159 - 170.83 in the "Bucket List" car to take provisional pole going into the evening session. As the crews got busy in the pits prepping for the second session, the ever-threatening storm clouds gathered over the track

FRIDAY - Second Qualifying Session

With the temperatures dropping rapidly after sunset, a number of teams decided against trying to hook up on the cold track and stayed in the pits. A few of the teams managed to improve but most of the racers were hoping for much better conditions in the final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. With a better weather forecast on tap, it seemed like a prudent move. As the FCC gang doesn't provide separate reports for the first two sessions, we can only report the best numbers recorded for each racer from the combined results.

Streaking into the night, the "Prairie Fire", driven by Nick Johnson (left) anchored the "A" field in the #8 spot, with a solid 4.659 - 148.65, while Blaine Cunningham in his "Animalize" entry (right) went nowhere in a hurry, finally stopping the clocks at 8.983 - 71.96, leaving him near the bottom of the pack

The old school '55 Chevy (or is it a '57 ?) "Dragon Slayer" of Andy Mears ended up in the middle of the "B" field (#12) with a decent 4.987 - 132.16 e.t. and speed

Coming all the way from Washington state, the "Atomic Punk" of Don Knoblauch (left) had some extra tuning help on hand, as Jeff 'The Surfer' Diehl joined the team for the weekend. His first effort ended early with a 7.011 - 72.42 timeslip and a good second try was negated by rolling the lights and getting a NTR (no time recorded timeslip)

Out for the first time in a very long time, Canada's Tim Boychuk in the "Happy Hour" Camaro, couldn't have been overjoyed with an 18th best 5.459 - 125.57 that put him all the way down into the (just added) "C" field. With only one more chance to knock off the rust, Boychuk and crew have to be hoping for much better numbers on Saturday

Enjoying the day much more was Oklahoma's Shayne Lawson (right) as the sharp looking "Man O' War" pounded out a good 4.560 - 120.51 for the #6 spot and a chance to play in the "A" field on Saturday night

As reported earlier, Ray Stringer and his "Blown Cent-Less" didn't exactly light up the scoreboards with a best of 7.525 - 116.55.

We're not sure if Steve Vang and his "Wicked Weekender" (left) improved in the evening session, but he managed to hold on to the #4 position, while Tod Barker's "Back in Black" 'Vette surprised a few people with the second fastest speed of the day, and the #5 qualifying position, with a very good 4.523 - 163.63 timeslip

Sporting new colours for the 2021 season, the former "Magnolia Missile" of Jeff Cameron (left) is now known as "Jake's Speed Shop", and he didn't disappoint his new sponsors, coming in as the #7 qualifier at 4.588 - 139.53. The best looking 'Vette in the pits, the "Cone Hunter" of New Mexico's Lyle Greenberg (right) had mixed feelings about his evening pass, as he lit the tires on the launch and stayed with it, smoking the tires to the finish line and finally stopping the clocks at 7.448 - 107.43 to sit just outside the "C" field at #25. It wasn't good, but it was spectacular

Two of the final shots from this report featured Clay Cunningham in the "Still Crazy" entry (left), on his way to an on-and-off (and probably at least one more on-and-off) before the clocks (finally) stopped at 6.240 - 128.05 that put him in the #22 spot

Late in the evening Chuck Loftin in the "Motivation" Mustang made his second attempt, shutting off early to a 5.235 - 104.54, only good enough for the #14 spot on the ladder

Saving the best for last, defending Funny Car Chaos series champion, Ken Singleton in the "High Risk" entry shut off a tad early on his qualifier and slipped into the #2 spot on the ladder with a 4.173 - 142.34 timeslip, landing less than two hundredths of a second behind the provisional #1 qualifer, Nick Poloson

Going through the results, it's obvious that most cars shut off before the finish line as the 200+ mph speeds at previous events (especially the season opener at the Texas Motorplex) were lacking, as Nick Poloson's top speed of the day (170.83) would have been well down the rankings at almost any other event on the schedule. Here's hoping for a tighter track and warmer track temperatures on Saturday. Stay tuned for more pictures from Friday's qualifying and results from Saturday's eliminations.

Following the conclusion of the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas, here are the latest points standings in the Top Alcohol classes. The next event on their calendar was scheduled for last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL) but weather forced it to be rescheduled to October 1-3. The next national event for the alky cars is this coming weekend at Atlanta Dragway. Then they have a week off before back-to-back national events at Charlotte, NC (NGK NTK NHRA Four-Wide Nationals) and Houston, TX (MOPAR Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals).

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR

Much more to come, but here's the start of the photos from Friday night's first two qualifying sessions for Funny Car Chaos and Outlaw Fuel Altereds from the 'Plex.

Friday, April 2, 2021 UPDATE: Added the balance of Friday night's qualifying shots. That's the easy part done; now all I have to do is re-arrange everything in a chronological order and caption every photo. Looks like a long weekend's worth of work...

As promised, we've got lots and lots of photos from NITRO MADNESS but it's going to take a few days to get them all sorted and captioned and posted. Yeah, yeah, same old, same old from Northern Thunder, but we are working on it now. Here's a grab-bag of stuff from Saturday night (without captions) until we can go through all the pics and put the stories together to go with them. Stay tuned!

SATURDAY - Final Qualifying Session

SATURDAY - Eliminations

We're still sifting through all the pictures and going over the results so it's going to be a while before we have this all organized and captioned. Please bear with us.

Starting with the Outlaw Fuel Altered final, and working our way up to the Funny Car Chaos "A" field, here's the final round shots to get this party started. Stay tuned for many, many more over the next few days.

The first pair out of the lanes for the finals, were from the Outlaw Fuel Altereds association, and they produced a great race, with Aaron Morrow driving the Morrow & Darby "Nitro Relapse" (far lane) against Mary Reep in the family operated "Grim Reeper". Leaving first, but unfortunately with a BIG redlight shining on her side of the tree, was Mary Reep, handing the automatic win to Aaron Morrow.

Next up was the final for the "D" field, and it featured Bob Alberty Jr. in his beautiful "Thunderin' Okie" (near lane), who redlighted (and shutoff) away his chance against Tom Furches in the "Made in America" (far lane). Furches laid down his best run of eliminations (4.069 - 164.25) for the win.

Moving on to the "C" field final, it featured the Plymouth Arrow-bodied "Illinois Thunder" of Levi Keenen (near lane), but his best of eliminations pass of 3.820 - 194.64 fell to the very strong 3.669 - 205.07 winning run of the alky burning "BTnT Motorsports" entry of Bill Bernard in the far lane.

Getting down to the final two races of the weekend, NHRA Top Fuel racer Scott Palmer brought out his new Top Alcohol Funny Car (near lane), and despite improving on every run, lost traction early and shutoff to a 5-second pass, dropping the decision to Doug Schneider's excellent 3.717 - 200.12 in his "Schneider Racing" entry. The "B" field was predominantly alcohol cars, as only three of the eight cars were nitro-fuelled.

The biggest race of the weekend, between the underdog blown alky car of Kyle Smith in his "Smith Family Racing" Mustang (far lane), and the NHRA Big Show-legal blown fuel entry of Del Worsham in the "Worsham & Fink" Toyota didn't quite live up to expectations, as Worsham smoked the tires and shut off early, while Smith rang up his quickest and fastest ever 1/8-mile time at 3.614 - 211.41 for the BIG win. Worsham tried his best, pedalling to a 4.718 e.t. and coasting across the finish line at 105.87 mph.

It was a long, tough weekend for all concerned at the FUNNY CAR CHAOS season opener at the Texas Motorplex. Finishing really late Friday night, then wrapping not quite as late last night, the FCC teams put on an awesome show with some incredible performances and surprising results. The winners of the "A" and "B" fields were driving blown alky floppers, and they prevailed over their heavily favoured nitro burning opponents.

Despite series record performances in qualifying and the first round of eliminations, culminating in all-time bests of 3.207 - 270+ timeslips, Del Worsham shook, smoked, and sashayed down the track, as Kyle Smith laid down another consistent low-3.60 pass to turn on the winlight. His winning e.t. was a career best (over the 1/8-th mile) of 3.61 - 211.41 in his NHRA-legal Top Alcohol Funny Car.

As they promised, tuner Tim Wilkerson and driver Richard Hartman broke the 300-mph barrier on Saturday, with another jaw-dropping 4.920 - 304.53 pass. It wasn't easy as the car started hazing the tires at half-track, but Hartman stayed with it all the way to the 1320 stripe, with lots of engine smoke trailing at that point. Despite many old-school naysayers objections to the "pedigree" of the car, it was still an absolutely remarkable performance for a car without much downforce or aerodynamics.

With so many cars running over the two-day event, our photographer didn't get much sleep - in bed at 3:00 a.m. both days - and that didn't leave much - if any - photo processing time. His latest message, coming in this morning as he started the long drive home, was "don't expect to see any pics until Tuesday"... so we'll all just have to wait patiently until then.

Our correspondent (BIG Bob Snyder) didn't send any photos last night, probably due to the late hour that qualifying finished at, but the BIGGGGG broke through on Facebook. A new Funny Car Chaos record, by an absolute TON was set by Del Worsham at.... are you ready for this for an 1/8-mile clocking: 3.210 - 270.90. Comparing the e.t. to the speeds recorded at the Gatornationals, it appears that he might have even shut off a tad early. The final qualifying session for the big race tonight didn't show any improvement for Del, but he's at the very top of the 63 cars that recorded an e.t. (68 cars made at least an attempted pass). There's only 32 spots for eliminations tonight, splite into four 8-car fields, with an ultimate bump spot held down by Keith Jackson in the "High Heaven" Camaro at 4.086 - 185.66.

The other really big news was an absolute World Record for a AA/Fuel Altered, set by Richard Hartman in a chassis provided by his employer Tim Wilkerson. Some diehards have complained that it's just a "big show" funny car with an altered body and corporate sponsorship adorning its sides. Yes, that's true in one sense, but Hartman took pains to explain that it was using antiquated big-show running gear, but that was still sufficient to put down an absolutely jaw-dropping 4.920 - 296.13 pass last night. That was on the full quarter-mile as he's taking part in a bit of a world record setting competition with the Farris brothers "War Wagon" car, piloted by Kebin Kinsley. The last words from Hartman were "We're going to see if we can run 300 on Saturday night". Hang on to see if it happens.

Here's the link to the YouTube video of the Friday evening pass. There's a semi-cool two-minute solo guitar rendition (ala Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock over 50 years ago) of the Star Spangled Banner, complete with slow-motion shots of the team getting ready to fire the car, followed by the awesome side-by-side battle with Kinsley.

Here's a few pics from yesterday's test 'n tune at the Texas Motorplex. Only a few of the cars were ready to test the track and shake off the off-season rust, but those that did hit the track were some of the best on the property. Remember, we've got heaps more coming over the weekend.

(LEFT) Making his first appearance at an FCC event, and checking out his new NHRA-legal Top Alky flopper, Scott Palmer warms up the tires before making a check-out pass

(RIGHT) Winding up the tires as the traction takes hold, Lynn Logue takes the "Back In Black" Firebird down track

(LEFT) Making an early pass, Chuck Loftin tries out the Texas traction with his "Motivation" Mustang

(RIGHT) Sporting some new sponsors, Ken Singleton crosses the starting line on the burnout in his "High Risk" entry

(LEFT) We haven't seen this car or driver for quite a while, but Mitch King brought out his infamous "Bone Bucket" Fuel Altered to shake the rust off himself and the car at the 'Plex

(RIGHT) What if they held a Funny Car race and a Top Fuel Dragster showed up? While he can't compete against the floppers, Mitch King came out of a long retirement from the NHRA Big Show (since 2004) to update his license in Terry Haddock's "rent-a-ride" Top Fueler. Here he blazes the hides on his first burnout in the car

(LEFT) Back up for another hit, Scott Palmer blazes across the starting line in his Tommy Thompson-backed alky flopper

(RIGHT) The "other" "Back In Black" entry in the field, this one owned and driven by Lynn Logue" made a test pass

(LEFT) Launching hard with the front wheels skimming the surface, defending FCC Series champion, Ken Singleton tries out the Texas traction with the "High Risk" car

(RIGHT) With the Hoosier's wrinkling nicely, Chuck Loftin launches his "Motivation" Mustang in the late afternoon

(LEFT) Scott Palmer pulls into the beams in his brand new Top Alcohol flopper

(RIGHT) Preparing to stage before a check-out pass, Tod Barker and crew line up the "Back In Black" 'Vette

Near the end of the pre-race party in the pits, there was a large banner presented to the "King and Queen" of Funny Car Chaos, two of the hardest working and most deserving of success people in the sport of drag racing, Chris & Tera Graves

It's happening baby! Yesterday the pits started filling at the Texas Motorplex (Ennis, TX) for what should be the event of the 2021 Funny Car Chaos season. The sun was out in the morning, cars were being unloaded and pit areas set up for this weekend's FCC extravaganza. At last count; hang on, let me check the website again..... yes, it's 69 funny cars and 17 AA/Fuel Altereds on the entry list. Today is just another move-in day, but tomorrow there will be a test 'n tune for all entrants from 10am - 4pm, followed by the first two qualifying sessions at 6pm and 9pm. With that many fuel-burning (most of them anyway) it's going to be a long night that will probably stretch into the early hours of Saturday morning before the nitro fumes and tire smoke dissipate.

Our intrepid southwest correspondent, BIG Bob Snyder arrived early and sent us a small taste of what's happening already as some series regulars and a well-known newcomer to the Chaos crew started prepping for the weekend. There's going to be heaps of pics coming our way over the next 72 hours, so stay tuned.

(LEFT) Series regular Tod Barker with his black and blue-flamed "Back In Black" Corvette returns.

(RIGHT) Another NHRA fuel racer, diehard Terry Haddock unloads his regular ride as he prepares for his second FCC race, following on last year's successful outing at San Antonio (runner-up in the "A" field) where he ran several 3.50's and hit a top speed of 234.74 mph.

(LEFT) First thing out of the trailer was the de-rigeur 5000-hp Margarita Mixer, complete with an altered grille. Looks like they learned some lessons from the Worsham family's similar machine that I first saw at the March Meet nearly ten years ago. One blip of the throttle and you've instantly got 5 gallons of margarita.

(RIGHT) Taking up lots of space with his BIG Show transporter, NHRA Top Fuel regular, Scott Palmer brought one of his other toys to the race (he's also got a Top Fuel Hydro, and a '53 Studebaker with a full-on blown fuel engine).

Just to confuse the announcers, there's two "Back In Black" entries, but this Firebird-bodied car is driven by Lynn Logue. It's also got flames, but black and gold ones. The photo on the left appeared to show him having half of Texas available for his pit area, but all that empty space will soon be filled with transporters, race cars, crews and equipment.

The ominously dark clouds that had gradually gathered during the afternoon let loose with a fury when Bob left the track for the motel as you can see in his last photo of the day. However, the weather forecast for the weekend is looking much better. The only worry is a "risk of thunderstorms" on Saturday afternoon.

Following the conclusion of the Western Regional event at Las Vegas, here are the current points standings in Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car.

A schedule change partway through the day at Las Vegas yesterday (due to high winds) saw the Top Alcohol cars run their second and third (final) qualifying sessions before launching into the first round of eliminations late in the day. The winds had died down and the 4000+ ft. adjusted altitude dropped to "just" 3662 ft. for the first round.

The dragsters led off with Joey Severance picking up the pace to put down a 5.286 - 273.66 to leave a tire-smoking Kim Parker with a long slow drive back to the pits. The next pair turned into a single as Mike Burns was unable to bring the idle down after the burnout, and couldn't get the car in reverse, forcing him to shut off and hop over the wall so the Eastern invader, Jackie Fricke, could make a very good 5.270 - 275.39 pass to advance to the semifinal. Following that, the next pair of A/Fuelers saw Casey Grisel take the measure of Mitch Myers by a 5.388 to 5.571 margin.

Saving the best for last, the low qualifying "Team Canada" entry of Langley, BC's Shawn Cowie bombed the scoreboards with a new low e.t. and top speed of the meet at 5.189 - 278.52 to leave fellow Division Six competitor Garrett Bateman far behind at the finish line, despite a decent 5.480 - 265.48 effort. The only downside to Cowie's very convincing win was that it matched him up with his Northwest nemesis, Severance, in the semi-final. Although Cowie holds lane choice by a full tenth, he will have to be sharp on the starting line to get past Severance.

That matchup was scheduled for noon today, but a couple of lengthy oildowns (20 minutes for a SuperComp car, and a full hour for a Top Dragster) have pushed the schedule back quite a bit so we'll have wait a bit for that result.

Before we close off for now, we can quickly mention the first round of Top Alcohol Funny Car eliminations from yesterday. The first - and only - pair featured Nick Januik taking what would have been a very close win (5.644 to 5.635) over Ray Martin... except for Martin's -.038 redlight. Januik did pick up a little more than a tenth from his qualifying number, while Martin was slightly quicker too. Finishing the very abbreviated round was a bye run into the final for the 2020 World Champion Doug Gordon who improved over his very good low qualifying 5.589 - 265.69 effort, with a slightly better 5.551 - 265.80 timeslip, and lane choice for this afternoon's final against Las Vegas local Januik.

The third regional event on the 2021 NHRA schedule is underway at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Featuring the Top Alcohol classes, the event has drawn an overflow field of 13 dragsters (10 injected and 3 blown), but just three funny cars. Three cars for a West Coast-ish event? Hmmm.... On the good side of the news, the bump spot for the dragsters is a 5.62 after one session, which saw 12 of the 13 cars making their first runs of the season. With two more qualifiers on tap for this afternoon, the bubble will almost certainly drop into the low 5.40's or better. On the (not so) funny side of the pits, all three cars - all quality cars by the way - are automatically into the semi-finals and the low qualifier will have a bye into the final round tomorrow.

Contestant numbers in Top Alcohol Funny Car haven't been good to this point of the season, with only five cars attending the Regional opener at No Problem Raceway, followed by nine cars at the "Baby" Gators and the Gatornationals. Now we're down to just three cars at Las Vegas. I've got to think that the turnout at the next event on the schedule, the Denso Spark Plugs Four Wide Nationals, also at Las Vegas, will see a much larger contingent of funny cars.

So what happened to the traditional NHRA season opener, the WINTERNATIONALS? It was originally planned for the week after Easter, April 9 - 11, but the latest health orders in California have precluded that happening until later in the year. How much later? It's really unknown at this point. In a similar vein, the first event on the NHRA Heritage Series calendar, the fabled MARCH MEET at Famoso, California is now tentatively scheduled for May 25 - 27th instead of the obvious early March date. And the rescheduled date isn't even firm at this point.

Let's turn to the good news, and there's plenty of it from the FUNNY CAR CHAOS gang, with their season starting next weekend at the Texas Motorplex. The pre-entry list of Funny Cars was up to 67 cars at one point, but has since fallen to "only".... hold on, STOP THE KEYBOARD.... As of right now, the list is back up to 69 cars, including at least five "Big Show" capable entries (Scott Palmer, Terry Haddock, Del Worsham, Todd Simpson, Terry Totten), and a host of full-on NHRA Top Alcohol cars (Chip Beverett, Ray Drew, Kyle Smith, Bill Naves, Mark Billington, Bill Bernard,). And I won't even try to list the Heritage Series legal cars, but there's lots of them too.

Did I mention the Fuel Altered show that's running in conjunction with the Funny Cars? There were 21 pre-entries, but that's since been trimmed to just 17 cars, almost all of which are burning serious amounts of nitro. Is that enough? Or do you want a few jet cars thrown in, plus "Dirty South" Gassers, and a host of other racing entertainment. Browsing through all the very cool FCC posters produced for this race shows an attempt to set a world record for a Fuel Altered... running a full quarter-mile. The current standard is a 5.286 (set by Joey Haas in 2013) and a mind-boggling 286.07 (by Ron Fassl in 2005). The Farris brothers, with Kebin Kinsley in the HOT seat, will be going all-out to shatter both ends of the record at the Motorplex.

That's enough for this morning, but I'll be back tomorrow with some updates from Las Vegas, and the latest NHRA Top Alcohol points standings on Monday. Stay tuned!

It's a little hard to believe, but the first national event on the 2021 NHRA schedule is set to begin in less than 24 hours at Gainesville Raceway. In a way, it's actually been going for nearly a week already, with the "Baby Gators" last weekend, followed by two days of testing earlier this week. The bigger show starts tomorrow morning with Sportsman qualifying, then the Pro and Semi-Pro teams begin qualifying on Friday morning. The weather outlook is excellent, with very little chance of rain, and plenty of sunny Florida skies, accompanied with high temperatures around 80 F (27 C) each day. Almost perfect racing conditions, and if the elapsed times and speeds already recorded over the past week are an indication, it's going to be QUICK and FAST.

The Top Alcohol cars have run two regional events already, with last weekend's Eastern Regional at Gainesville, and the previous weekend's Central Regional in Belle Rose, LA. While the car turnout at the Louisiana race was a little low, with just five Funny Cars and eight Dragsters, the quality of competition was high. And last weekend's Gainesville race saw 14 Dragsters and nine Funny Cars. Showing how tough the competition was this early in the season, the bump spot for the funnies was 5.662, while the bubble for the dragsters was a fairly stout 5.317, with the first alternate at 5.365.

While there are a total of 18 Dragsters (three blown and 15 injected) on the entry list for the Gatornationals, there are just nine Funny Cars on the list. Although the quality of the nine entries is fairly high, the non-participation has got to be worrying for the class. Yes, there are numerous reasons why a lot of cars are still sitting at home, from the pandemic, to the economy, to the uncertainty of the schedule(s). Even though there are strong signs that the worst of the pandemic is over, and restrictions on "normal" life are being, or soon will be, lifted and/or eased, it's still a tough ask to haul a car a long way to a race with all the uncertainty surrounding the sport at the moment.

That said, it's time to deal with what's happening now and enjoy the start of a new season of serious drag racing. We'll bring you a synopsis of what lies ahead in the fuel and alcohol categories over the next two days, then get into the results from Gainesville as they start coming in on Friday morning. Stay tuned!

My apologies to our midwest coorespondent, Bill Jeffery for taking so long to post some of the great photos he took at the final day of the 26th annual World Power Wheelstanding Championship" from Byron Dragway in early October. Ouch! Has it really been that long? Oh well, we've got all the photos sorted and will present the full complement in the Features section very soon.

Not all the attempts ended well as you can see from the last two sets of shots. We'll have the full sequence of this pass and a few other hair-raising efforts posted as soon as we can.

It's been very quiet here this month but we've got some photos and words from our ever-intrepid SouthWestern correspondent "BIG" Bob Snyder. He attended the final Western Fuel Altered Association event of the 2020 season this weekend at Tucson Dragway. Qualifying ran on Friday night, and eliminations were yesterday on what was a very cold and somewhat slippery track in the Arizona desert. With ten cars in attendance, plus a few others testing, the variety of machinery was welcomed by the fans, and the performances improved as eliminations progressed. Note that the racers were running on a 6.70 index to level the playing field for the various engine and chassis configurations.

Western Fuel Altered Invitational - ADRA Memorial Race - Tucson Dragway - Tucson, AZ - November 14, 2020

Running in conjunction with the ADRA Memorial Race, the Western Fuel Altered gang put on a great show for the Tucson fans. With a total of 10 cars attempting to qualify, over two days and three sessions, the decision was made to put everybody - at least everyone who wasn't broken - into eliminations. Only one racer. Tony D'Orca failed to appear for the first round, but a bonus of two cars testing, Rob Winefsky's AA/Fuel Altered and Phil Flower's Funny Car, added to the show.

(LEFT) Between working on Sheldon Lofgreen's fuel altered, crewman Phil Flower found the time to make a few check-out passes in his recently completed Funny Car

(RIGHT) Here's a shot from the final qualifying session on Saturday morning, featuring (near lane) Greg Holman in his "Carbon Copy" 23-T, running against (in the far lane) Sheldon Lofgreen. Holman ended up in the #6 position, with a best qualifying number of 6.911 - 205.07, while Lofgreen fell just short of the top of the charts, finishing in the #2 spot with a best of 6.795 - 191.21

Out testing in preparation for license runs in a "big show"-style AA/Fuel Altered, Sean Cash brought out his "Rabble Rouser", burning out on the left and launching hard on a planned early shutoff on the right. Assisting Cash in getting himself and the car dialled in is legendary Fuel Altered (and Funny Car and Top Fuel) owner, driver, and tuner Johnny West. The plan for Cash is to run the Midwest Fuel Altered Association in 2021

Round One Eliminations

(LEFT) In first round action, Mic Williams in the "Redeemer" (near lane) took on Scott Pareso (far lane) in the unique twin-turbo big-block Chevy. The winlight came on in Pareso's lane as he carded a 6.953 to easily cover Williams' losing 7.240 effort

(RIGHT) The next pair turned into a virtual single for the "Rust Bucket" of Flagstaff (AZ)'s Mitch Bowen (near lane) as his opponent (Pat Neal) in the far lane pitched the blower belt on the launch and barely left the starting line. Bowen stopped the clocks with a close-to-the-index 6.761 for the win

(LEFT) Another turbo monster, this time featuring a TFX hemi, was driven by Sheldon Lofgreen (near lane), matched up against Greg Holman (far lane). It was an ultra-close match as both drivers flirted with the 6.70 index and clocked identical times of 6.736. Taking the win via reaction time advantage was Lofgreen

(RIGHT) The last pair of the first round was a bit of an oddity. In the near lane, Terri Brewster launched her "Retro Rocket" front-engine dragster before the tree was activated, taking the automatic loss, and handing the win to the far lane's Steve "Flattop" Faller" in his "Bad Moon Rising" altered. He didn't get a time either as he also left before the tree, but the "first or worst" rule applied in this case

What if they held a fuel altered race and a "Top Fuel" car showed up? Keith Livsey brought out his twin-mag late-model BAE-powered dragster and was slotted into the show to help amp up the entertainment value for the fans. He qualified #1 with a 6.765, and took a first-round bye in the 9-car field, running just a tad under the index at 6.696, but nevertheless advancing to the second round

Round Two Eliminations - Quarter-Finals

With a 9-car field in the first round, the five winners (one on a bye) advancing to the second round meant someone got a single. Earning the spot was the #2 qualifier, Sheldon Lofgreen, in his hard-running turbo car, and he put down a very close to the index 6.711 to earn his spot in the semi-finals

(LEFT) In the near lane, Mitch Bowen drove the "Rust Bucket" to an easy win over Steve "Flattop" Faller" (far lane) in the "Bad Moon Rising". Bowen cranked out a solid 6.761, while Faller fell by the wayside early, finally stopping the clocks at 10.124 for the loss

(RIGHT) The second round concluded with Keith Livsey, in the far lane, matched up against the only out-of-state entry, Colorado's Scott Pareso, and in a very close race, Livsey took the win by a 6.768 to 6.840 margin. His pass wasn't quite quick enough to earn lane choice over Lofgreen in the semis though. As a consolation, Pareso took the "Best Burnout" award, doing a 1000-footer for the prize

Two views of a local blown fuel altered (AA/FA), the "Coyote Express", driven by Rob Winefsky, making some test passes for the crowd. He started the year with a runner-up finish to Ron "BIG Show" Capps at the fabled Good Vibrations March Meet, but hasn't had very many opportunities to race since. Rob was testing a new supercharger in preparation for the 2021 season.

Round Three Eliminations - Semi-Finals

(LEFT) Yes, it's another single, as 9-cars (Rnd #1) became 5-cars (Rnd #2) and now it's down to three cars in the semi-finals. The bye run this time went to #7 qualifier Mitch Bowen and he took full advantage of the situation to see just how hard he could run without worrying about breaking out of the 6.70 index. The scoreboards rang up a low e.t. of the meet 6.624 as he blasted his way into the final round. Presumably without lane choice though, due to the "breakout"

(RIGHT) In the only side-by-side match of the round, Keith Livsey (near lane), appeared to leave first, and he did, but courtesy of a red-light, giving the automatic win to Sheldon Lofgreen, in the far lane. Despite a quicker time (6.725), Livsey saw the automatic winlight come on in Lofgreen's lane, as he carded a solid 6.818 to move into the final round

Round Four Eliminations - Final

Sadly, we don't have any pictures, or first-hand reports to post, as our correspondent left before the final round as the dropping temperatures made it simply too uncomfortable to wait for the final pair. But we do have the results, as Mitch Bowen in the "Rust Bucket" took the win in the closest race of the day, turning a 6.740 over the close-but-no-cigar effort of Sheldon Lofgreen, who trailed with a valiant 6.758 effort in the loss. Making the race even closer than it appeared from the timeslips was the .017 reaction time advantage for Lofgreen that made the margin of victory for Bowen at the finish line a miniscule .0012 of a second. What a finish to a great day of racing in the Southwest.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER & FUNNY CAR Finals

On the left side, it's the defending Top Alcohol Dragster national champion, Megan Meyer,,,, doing her burnout. On the right, it's former four-time champ, Joey Severance launching hard, but all for naught as he was off the throttle before half track and slowed to a losing 7.126 - 128.70 time. After a very quick leave and major holeshot on Meyer (.015 light to .176), Severance was unable to hold the lead.

Taking the win, and clinching a repeat national championship was Meyer, who kept up her pace with a great 5.200 - 281.07 (top speed of the meet) in what might have been her final pass down a dragstrip. She recently announced her retirement from the sport following her marriage last weekend. Whether she stays retired forever remains to be seen.

Two views of the Top Alcohol Funny Car runner-up, Bob McCosh Jr., burning out on the left, and launching hard with the front wheels just off the concrete on the right. Although he had the better numbers 5.499 - 266.64, to winner Greg Bellemeur's almost-as-good 5.500 - 266.06, the reaction times told the tale. Bellemeur's .028 light covered McCosh's good, but not quite good enough, .058 time, and the margin at the 1320 mark was a little more than half a car length.

PRO MODIFIED & TOP FUEL HARLEY Finals

With a short (11-car) field, the Bahrain 1 team filled the semi-final round, with all three of their cars advancing to that round of competition. Then it was down to the final two, with (on the left) Khalid alBalooshi burning out in his ProCharger-equipped 2019 Camaro, while (on the right) the screw-blown 2018 Camaro of Stevie "Fast" Jackson lights up the big Goodyears.

When the lights came down, Jackson (right side) left first by a few hundredths, followed closely by alBalooshi (left side), with his front wheels higher on the launch. Jackson steadily increased his lead until alBalooshi shut off at the 1000' mark, and coasted to a losing 5.890 - 224.96, while Jackson blasted into the winners circle with a better 5.789 - 247.47 timeslip. It was a double celebration for Jackson, as he clinched his second consecutive Pro Mod championship with a win over Brandon Snider in the second round of eliminations.

One of the fan favourite categories, Top Fuel Harley whittled the 8-bike field down to the finalists, Ricky House (left side) against long-time dominator in the class, Jay Turner (right side). Despite a quicker (.041 to .059) leave by House, it was Turner putting on the winlight with a bike-length margin at the finish line, and the boards showing the 6.390 - 214.96 decision in Turner's favour, over House's not quite good enough 6.444 - 214.79 effort.

COMPETITION, SUPER STOCK & FACTORY STOCK SHOWDOWN Finals

(LEFT) Hangin' 'em high on the launch in the Hancock & Lane E/SMA Cavalier is North Bend, WA's Cody Lane, enroute to a win over the just barely in the extreme left corner of the frame, Doug Engels in his D/Dragster. Lane didn't have a great start to the weekend, qualifying at the very bottom of the 14-car Comp field, but marched through eliminations and took the final round with a quicker pass and great light (.009), for a convincing seventh national event win.

(RIGHT) At the conclusion of six rounds of eliminations, it was Terry Emmons in his little SS/BS Cavalier (popular little cars eh?) taking the Super Stock trophy, his eighth national event victory, over the wild wheelstanding SS/JA Camaro of Pennsylvania's Bryan Wormer (seen below). With the handicap headstart, Wormer redlighted away his chances, and even though Emmons also left before the green, the first or worst rule always applies.

The old adage of "if ya can't be good... at least be spectacular" certainly applies in this instance, as Bryan Wormer leaves with the front end heading for the moon as he registers an automatic loss in the Super Stock final with his red-light start.

With a restricted 9" wide rear tire, the Factory Stock cars have to work very hard to keep them biting, so launching with the front end high is necessary to get enough weight on the rear wheels to keep them hooked up. Both finalists did it well, with (left side)

TOP DRAGSTER, SUPER COMP & TOP SPORTSMAN Finals

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Final

PRO STOCK Final

Here's a little teaser of just some of the photos we've got from Bob Snyder. There's more than 600 from Sunday's eliminations, so it's going to take a while to go through them and get the best shots posted. Stay tuned! These are the pics from the Funny Car and Top Fuel finals.

FUNNY CAR Final

On the left side, burning out in preparation for the final, is Ron Capps, while on the right side we've got Matt Hagan

(LEFT) Launching from the left side is Matt Hagan enroute to a winning 3.914 - 326.40 pass, putting a great exclamation mark on his championship season. On the right side, Ron Capps left hard, but ran into trouble before half track, slowing to a losing 4.463 - 173.70 in the losing effort.

(RIGHT) One final shot of Hagan with the flames up putting down some serious power.

TOP FUEL Final

(LEFT) (RIGHT)

(LEFT) (RIGHT)

Monday morning musings from Northern Thunder

It took a bit of digging, but I was finally able to find the NHRA announcement about the revised points earning procedures for the 2020 season. After operating for the past few weeks under the (mistaken, unfortunately) assumption that racers could claim points from all six of the national events that had Top Alcohol on their schedule, I found that I was "misinformed". By myself. I had to look back to a posting on NHRA's website from May 19. It reads as follows:

Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car

Alcohol National Championship: best 2 of 5 regional and best 5 of 7 national events
Alcohol Regional Championship: best 4 of 5 regional events. No home regional event minimum requirement

I remembered the two of five regional, but forgot about the 5 of 7 national rule, so while I assumed Shawn Cowie held an advantage over Megan Meyer going into the Dodge NHRA Finals, he needed to win the event, or at least reach the final round to have a chance to take the championship. When Cowie dropped a close and ultimnately heartbreaking decision to long time arch-rival Joey Severance in the semi-finals, his fate was sealed. The only way he could hope to win the big trophy was for Severance to take out Meyer in the final round.... and win the final regional event of the season at the very same Las Vegas track this coming weekend.

Cowie's Mundie's Towing team did all they could to help Severance get ready for the final as they loaned their engine to the J & A Services team and pitched in with a bunch of the other Top Alky racers to effect the swap and fully prep the car for the battle with Meyer. Joey did his job on the starting line, putting a major (.015 to .176) holeshot on Megan, but the car went silent before half track and coasted to the runner-up position.

At this point, the Cowie team must be absolutely sick of the sight of the # 2 on the side of the rear wing, but as they've battled on over the years, they can only look forward to another championship chase in 2021.

Here's the (not quite) final points standings for Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car. There's still one more regional event to run and a number of racers have not maxed out their regional points - remember - best two of five results - but the championships have been decided and there will be a very anti-ciimactic feeling to the last NHRA event of the 2020 season.

Eliminations Day at the Dodge NHRA Finals

We've got the first batch of photos from Saturday's action at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Captions and descriptions to follow as soon as we have time.

(LEFT) Launmching hard enroute to another low 5.50 pass, Bob McCosh

(RIGHT) The numbers on the board don't tell the full story, with Bob McCosh's 5.552 - 265.64 pass taking the winlight over Chris Marsahll's better 5.461 - 267.96, courtesy of an .042 to .104 holeshot. The margin of victory at the stripe was just one thousandth of a second. And that's all we've got from yesterday's qualifying and eliminations action. Much more to come tomorrow from today's final eliminations.

Dodge NHRA Finals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

7:00 AM Update

Due to an uncooperative (ie. crap) wi-fi at Motel "5.9", our photographer was only able to transmit two pictures from yesterday's Top Alcohol qualifying at Las Vegas. Thankfully they were images of the top cars in each class. Much more to come later today though and throughout the weekend. Stay tuned!

(LEFT) Normally you would expect these two cars to be the last pair in a qualifying session, but after 9- and 10-second runs in the first session, Brian Hough in the near lane, and Greg Bellemeur in the far lane, were the first cars out of the waterbox to start the second (and final) qualifier. They both improved dramatically, with Hough jumping from #15 to the top of the ladder with a 5.464 - 267.75 pass, while Bellemeur nearly matched his numbers as he leaped from #16 to #2, courtesy of a 5.487 - 264.96 clocking.

(RIGHT) The story for this pair is the opposite of the Funny Cars, as they finished the first session in the top two spots, and stayed there on the final qualifying sheets. To show the consistency of these teams, they were the quickest cars in both qualifying sessions. In the far lane, Megan Meyer followed up her 5.203 - 271.79 with an almost as good 5.236 - 269.56 pass, while on the near side, Shawn Cowie fell off slightly from his earlier 5.208 - 276.80 to a merely very good 5.258 - 276.13 in the final session. Interestingly, Cowie had the two fastest passes of qualifying at over 276-mph, beating out the BIG horsepower of the A/Fuel cars.

3:00 PM Update

Following the first PRO qualifying session, which was slowed somewhat by cone blasting, engine destroying, rearend locking, etc incidents, the Top Alcohol cars waited patiently in the staging lanes for their first round of eliminations. With two rounds of eliminations scheduled for today (second one at approx. 6:30 pm), there could be some major changes in the dragster championship before the day is over. In fact, Shawn Cowie could be crowned the new champion if his two pursuers from the Meyer Racing team, Megan Meyer and Julie Nataas lose in either the first or second round. To make that possibility a reality, Cowie would have to at least win his first round match with Dusty Green in the one-of-a-kind driver forward A/Fuel Dragster. The first pair of dragsters are in the burnout box, so stay tuned for an almost live update in a few minutes.

Dodge NHRA Finals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

(LEFT) Making his national event debut is Chris Morel in his "Charger" nitro funny car. (RIGHT) Making his Vegas debut is Top Alcohol Funny Car contender (currently #5 in the points standings) Bob McCosh Jr., all the way from Columbia, Missouri.

(LEFT) Lurking under the big awning are the two Kansas killer Kars, with Julie Nataas (cuirrently #3 in the Top Alcohol Dragster standings), and in the background, her teammate and defending champion Megan Meyer. (RIGHT) Putting on his "game face" is Top Alcohol Dragster points leader Shawn Cowie as he aims to upgrade the number on his rear wing from #2 to #1.

The early bird gets the best parking spot as our intrepid lensman, BIG Bob Snyder slides his road warrior van into an otherwise empty media parking lot.

Shawn Cowie wins the Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals presented by Pennzoil

The points battle for the Top Alcohol Dragster championship intensified in a big way when Shawn Cowie took full advantage of Megan Meyer's absence during eliminations to take the event win and jump back into the lead in the point standings. And in Top Alcohol Funny Car, Doug Gordon won his first championship when the defending champion, Greg Bellemeur lost in the semi-finals. Congratulations to the BETA Motorcylces gang on a very well-deserved championship. The standings going into the final two races of the season are below. Remember to click on the small graphics for easier viewing.

BIG News from Baytown - Megan Meyer will NOT run in eliminations

A bolt out of the blue came over the video feed from Houston Raceway Park when NHRA's lead announcer, Alan Rinehart announced that Megan Meyer had left the track to attend her wedding. Presumably that happy event had been scheduled far in advance and prompted her to only make a qualifying effort at the SpringNationals, and not run in eliminations. Rinehart reported that she would receive first round loser points, and still stay ahead of her closest challengers for the national championship, Shawn Cowie (32 points behind), and team-mate Julie Nataas (53 points in arrears).

However, and we're still waiting for confirmation on this point, but the NHRA website states "All remaining event non-qualifiers or no-shows in eliminations will automatically receive 10 points". If that caveat applies in this case, then Meyer is running a serious risk of losing her lead in the championship standings. Even if she is credited with the 31 points awarded to first-round losers, she could still find herself in second place by the end of tomorrow's eliminations.

Looking further down the standings shows that even Duane Shields (75 points back), and Jackie Fricke (86 points behind), could signifcantly close the gap on Meyer heading into the final national event of the season at Las Vegas next weekend. Only Fricke (of the aforementioned names) is not entered in that race... so far. And speaking of Las Vegas, there is a Western Regional event running there this weekend, with nine Top Alcohol Dragsters and six Funny Cars competing. The only Top Ten racer in attendance at that race is Joey Severance (#7) and he can only gain 21 points with an event win. On the Funny Car side, the highest racer in the standings is Chip Beverett and he's way down in the #14 spot with no chance to challenge for the championship.

First round of eliminations for the alky cars is at the end of the day (5:30 or 6:00 pm) at Houston, with the balance of eliminations tomorrow. At Las Vegas, the first round is scheduled for 2:00 pm, with the semi-finals at 5:00 and the finals at 7:00 pm. If you're a real hardcore fan, you can follow the action on a live feed from The Strip at LVMS through this Drag Racer TV link, courtesy of Competition Plus.

Top Alcohol Dragster

And then there were two ... national events that is. With the 2020 NHRA Camping World schedule rapidly winding down, the championship battles are intensifying as literally "every round counts" at this point. That axiom is especially so in the Top Alcohol Dragster division, as Shawn Cowie lost his very short-lived lead in the point standings following a second-round loss at Dallas last weekend. Jumping back to the top was defending national champion Megan Meyer, who brought the hammer down hard in the final round, blasting out a 5.126 - 279.09 to obliterate first-time finalist, and worthy opponent, Aaron Cooper.

Meyer's performance nearly equalled her other-worldly dominance displayed at the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. She rewrote the record books with a blistering 5.097 - 278.81 pass in the second-round, then followed it up with an even more amazing 5.090 - 280.54 effort in the semi-finals. It certainly looks like Team Meyer is on a mission to send her into "retirement" on a high note with back-to-back championships.

But the championship chase is not over yet, as Cowie is still within striking distance, just 32 points behind Meyer, with three points earnings events left on his schedule. And it could come down to the second Las Vegas Western Region race, happening the week following the Dodge NHRA Finals. If Cowie could win that event, he would gain 42 points that could ultimately decide the TAD champion. But to be in a position to capitalize on that last race of the year, he must keep pace with Meyer this weekend and next at Houston and Las Vegas. Even better, if he could close the gap during those two races, then the pressure on him to go for broke at the last race would be lessened somewhat.

First things first though, as qualifying starts later today at Houston, with a short 13-car field in Top Alcohol Dragster. The big bonus available for the low qualifier is a possible second round bye run directly into the semi-finals. Considering that the #1 qualifier gets to face the racer at the bottom of the field, there will be some very serious attempts to secure that spot. We'll bring the results as soon as they come in today, and throughout the weekend, so stay tuned to this space.

Top Alcohol Funny Car

The situation is much clearer on the flopper side of the alchohold pits. The current, and almost season-long points leader is Doug Gordon and he could clinch the championship if everything falls his way this weekend. He's got a 124 point lead over the #2 (and defending champion) Greg Bellemeur, and is 134 points in front of #3 Brian Hough, going into this weekend's race. If Gordon qualifies for eliminations, which is a foregone conclusion with only ten cars in the pits, then Bellemeur has to win the event to stay in contention for the championship. Even a runner-up finish would see the chase end on Sunday afternoon.

Hough's chances are even slimmer, as he needs to win both races and have Gordon fail to qualify at the Las Vegas event, which is not likely as there are only 15 cars on the pre-entry list at this time. So, for all intents and purposes, Hough is looking at a third place finish in the championship standings, a drop of one position from his #2 finish last season.

TOP ALCOHOL National Points Standings and "COUNTDOWN" Status

Don't go reaching for the magnifying glasses just yet. Click on the tables below and they will open in a larger, and much easier to read, format.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER -

The following tables show just where the racers are at this moment, and what their prospects are over the next four weeks. Note that in the Top Alcohol Dragster standings, the top eight runners are all entered at this week's event in Dallas. It may go a long way towards determining the national/world championship. With a revised points structure due to the truncated season, racers can count points earned at all six national events that Top Alcohol competes in, along with two (of their first five) regional races.

The current points leader in TAD, Shawn Cowie has a definite leg up on most of his competitors, as only Duane Shields and his "Northwest Nemesis" Joey Severance also appeared at Pomona. That gives this trio an extra points boost and may well be the difference maker by the end of the season. With the revised points earning opportunities on the regional front, once a racer has two regional wins, they will have amassed the maximum points available. Three racers have done just that, with Megan Meyer using them to stay close to Cowie, while Jackie Fricke and Rachel Meyer have done well regionally, with two wins apiece, but not so well on the national stage and are well back in the standings.

The second through fourth racers in the standings cannot claim any more regional points, while Cowie still has one chance to gain the maximum, at the final event on the 2020 calendar, the Las Vegas regional race happening after the Dodge NHRA Finals. Also in the same boat is Joey Severance, who could use that final race of the year to gain an extra 21 points towards his total. One spot below Severance in the standings, Josh Hart could gain 42 points at that event, while Cowie stands to also gain 42 points if he could win the event. Finally, long-shot contender (#8 in the points currently) James Stevens, could likewise add 42 points to his total with a win at the Las Vegas regional.

There's so many scenarios possible, but it will all become at least somewhat clearer by Sunday afternoon when eliminations conclude at the Texas Motorplex. With a full field of blown alky (four) and injected nitro (twelve) cars entered, and points earning capabilities as follows: 1st-round loser (31), 2nd-round loser (42), semi-finalist (53), runner-up (64) and winner (85) points, the standings could look quite different by next week. Note that oil-downs cost five points per occurence.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR -

It's been an almost all Doug Gordon season, despite losing in the final round at the Winternationals back in February. It didn't take him long to take over the top spot though, with a victory at the "Baby Gators" event in early March putting him in the #1 position. Then the pandemic hit and everything came to a very sudden halt for nearly four months. The long layoff didn't hurt Gordon at all though, as he domianted the Denver race in late June to max out his regional points in just three outings. At this point he was so far ahead of his nearest competitor, Greg Bellemur that the championship was looking like it mnight be locked up early.

By the time the second national event of the season unfolded, nearly seven months after the season opener, the nerest pursuer was Brian Hough, only 49 points in arrears, while Bellemeur sat in fourth place, 59 points behind. The surprise Winternationals winner Aryan Rochon, was still hanging in the chase, less than 50 points behind. From there down to the bottom of the Top Ten, the fifth place racer, D.J. Cox Jr. was 80 points down, but still well ahead of the rest of the list. As in the dragster standings, a good showing at the Winternationals was the biggest factor in the points race going into the traditional "Big Go" at Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend.

Banner courtesy of NHRA

NHRA Western Regional - Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park - Chandler, AZ

Here's the pictures from the first two rounds of eliminations on Saturday at Phoenix. We'll provide the details on the final round, but sadly, no pictures of them. As per usual, the dragsters came out first, with four pairs ready to battle for the event win. Following them were the two pairs of funny cars, unfortunately far from a full field.

(LEFT) Casey Grisel

(RIGHT) Ron Anderson (left lane) 13.783 - 72.26 vs Casey Grisel (right Lane) 5.352 - 263.67

(LEFT) Steve Griboski

(RIGHT) Joey Severance

Joey Severance (left lane) 5.616 - 258.86 vs Steve Griboski (right lane) 12.329 - 77.68

(LEFT) Johnny Ahten

(RIGHT) (left lane) Brandon Greco 9.309 - 88.66 (right lane) Johnny Ahten 12.746 - 61.04

(LEFT) Shawn Cowie

(RIGHT) (left lane) Shawn Cowie 5.368 - 269.46 (right lane) Mike Austin 18.864 - 37.83

(LEFT) Ray Martin

(RIGHT) (left lane) Ray Martin 5.758 - 248.43 vs (right lane) Hunter Jones 5.810 - 252.05

(left lane) Hunter Jones 5.810 - 252.05 vs (right lane) Ray Martin 5.758 - 248.43

(LEFT) Don Hudson

(RIGHT) Jay Payne

(left lane) Jay Payne 5.707 - 259.96 (right lane) Don Hudson 11.559 - 80.27

(LEFT) (left lane) Brandon Greco vs (right lane) Casey Grisel

(RIGHT) (left lane) Joey Severance vs (right lane) Shawn Cowie

The scoreboards tell the tale as Severance advances to the final round on a holeshot. The true margin of victory was 0.032 seconds; half a car length.

Banner courtesy of NHRA

NHRA Western Regional - Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park - Chandler, AZ

After a long hot day in the blazing SouthWestern sun, our correspondent, "BIG" Bob Snyder left before the second, and what became the final, qualifying session. With just enough cars to fill the dragster field, and only four funny cars, the decision to axe the third session was made by NHRA Division Seven Director Mike Rice. Here's the final qualifying positions and numbers.

NHRA Western Regional - Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park - Chandler, AZ

We've got some pictures from yesterday's Top Alcohol (Dragster and Funny Car) first qualifying session at the NHRA Division Seven divisonal-Western Regional event. Our ever-intrepid photographer, Bob Snyder left after the first session due to the extreme (100+ F) temperature, but he's promised to be back at the track today for eliminations. We'll have more details as we get them.

(LEFT) Making his season debut at Phoenix was Hunter Jones in his 2010 Monte Carlo.

(RIGHT) Pairing up with Jones in the first session, Don Hudson burns out for the first time in quite a few years. It's been even longer since he last ran in Top Alcohol, as his nitro nostalgia flopper has been competition choice in recent years.

In the left lane, Hunter Jones was in trouble right from the hit, and his 14.110 - 82.14 left him at the bottom of the slim 4-car field. In the right lane, Don Hudson didn't fare that much better, as his 7.064 - 141.83 showed that he was off the throttle before half track. Despite the medicore timeslip, he was still #2 in the field after the session.

(LEFT) Turning the big slicks for the first time since the Winternationals (seven months ago!), Alaska's Ray Martin showed no signs of rust,

(RIGHT) Entering the last month of his drag racing career, soon-to-retire Jay Payne pulled through the waterbox in his famous "ThunderSlug" Camaro.

From the left lane, Jay Payne got off the line in fine shape, but was out of it before the 330' clocks, finally timing in at 8.356 - 146.96 to end up in the third spot in the field. On the other side, Ray Martin jumped to the top of the ladder with a very decent 5.799 - 248.93 clocking to easily outdistance the rest of the field.

After the first session ended, the qualifying sheet for the Funny Cars went as follows:

(LEFT) Coming down from the high country of Colorado, Steve Griboski, showed up to compete in his only second regional event of the year, and looking to improve on his 5.613 best at Denver in June.

(RIGHT) Another racer making his first appearance since the season-opening Winternationals, was Los Angeles county fireman Johnny Ahten, and he got up on the tires quickly in his first burnout of the weekend.

In the left lane Steve Griboski made his first shot count as a solid (and season best) 5.559 - 262.59 lit up the scoreboards. Meanwhile, in the right lane, Johnny Ahten had his injected fueler grumble and drop cylinders enroute to a so-so 5.774 - 252.54 opening run.

(LEFT) In what appears to be an old Jim Whiteley (J&A Services) car, Mike Austin came down from Oregon and tried to get on the right side of the win-loss ledger, after three straight first-round exits in previous 2020 appearances.

(RIGHT) In the left lane Mike Austin put down a decent 5.629 - 250.55 to sit in the middle of the pack after the first session, while over in the right lane, California's Ron Anderson lit up the tires - as you can clearly see in the photo - on the launch and slowed to a bottom of the field 14.855 - 71.27 clocking.

(LEFT) It was certainly surprising to see Brandon Greco haul his car all the way from Pennsylvania for this race. With his maximum number of regional events already claimed, and well down in the national standings, his appearance was a bit of a mystery. However, given the unpainted/wrapped body panels, he could have been testing a new car. Even stranger, he hasn't entered any of the three remaining national events.

(RIGHT) With a chance to move into the top ten in the national standings if he could win the event, Casey Grisel made the short tow to Wild Horse with co-owner and crew chief Jerry Darien ready to lay down some serious nitro-powered numbers.

In the left lane, Casey Grisel put down a solid opening effort, stopping the clocks at 5.489 - 260.51, while over in the the right lane, Brandon Greco outran him with a slightly better 5.451 - 255.82 on his first full pass of the weekend. (He made two test runs on Thursday but was off the throttle early on both).

(LEFT) With the last pair being the top two contenders in the field, Shawn Cowie lights up the tires big-time on his usual banzai burnout.

(RIGHT) Doing almost the same pre-run routine, Joey Severance shows some serious RPM's on the burnout with the hard-running J&A Services car prior to facing arch-rival Cowie.

Saving the best (pair) for last, Shawn Cowie (on the left side) pounded out a big number to kick off his weekend, with a 5.294 - 274.05 lighting up the boards, while over in the right lane, Joey Severance had some issues just past the 330' clocks - after an awesome 0.891 60' time - and pedaled his way to an early shutoff 5.845 - 193.43 time.

(LEFT) Just past the 60' clocks, Shawn Cowie is already showing a lot of tire speed enroute to the quickest and fastest time of the first session.

(RIGHT) We close our qualifying coverage with a view of Shawn Cowie's scoreboard, showing the 5.294 - 274.05. His short numbers were as follows: 60' (0.937), 330' (2.389), 660' (3.511), 660' speed (220.73), 1000' (4.472).

After the first session ended, the qualifying sheet for the dragsters went as follows:

FUNNY CAR CHAOS World Finals - San Antonio (Alamo City Motorplex) - Qualifying Session #3 (FINAL)

FUNNY CAR CHAOS World Finals - San Antonio (Alamo City Motorplex) - Eliminations - Round One

FUNNY CAR CHAOS World Finals - San Antonio (Alamo City Motorplex) - Eliminations - Round Two

FUNNY CAR CHAOS World Finals - San Antonio (Alamo City Motorplex) - Eliminations - FINAL Round

FUNNY CAR CHAOS World Finals - San Antonio (Alamo City Motorplex) - Pit Shots

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Kearney Raceway - Qualifying Session #3 (FINAL)

Round One Eliminations

At the conclusion of the first round, long-time series regular - and a nitro racer from waaaay back - Fred Farndon made his final pass down the dragstrip after announcing his retirement at this event. The crew followed him down to tow him back to the pits for the final time and wrap up his six decade long career in drag racing. And "Play It Loud" turned down the volume forever.

Round Two Eliminations (Semi-Finals)

Final Round Eliminations

Another week, another Funny Car Chaos event. This weekend it's coming from Kearney Raceway in the heart of corn country. Last night's second qualifying session was pretty much a write-off due to unseasonably cold track temps (62 F!), but the first session, in the early afternoon was a good one. This exhibition event (to replace the cancelled Martin, MI points race) featured a wild assortment of Fuel Altereds, some on nitro, some on alky, one turbocharged, along with some new faces to the Chaos show.

Here's our first installment of Friday's qualifying, with much more to follow. As always, stay tuned!

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Kearney Raceway - Qualifying Session #1

Pit Shots

(LEFT) Here's something you don't see every day: an honest-to-goodness twin-engine blown gas-burning Top Gas Dragster from 1970. Fifty years ago, Ray Motes drove and partner R.C. Williams wrenched this behemoth to some of the most awesome performances of that era.

Nostalgia Front-Engine Dragsters

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Kearney Raceway - Qualifying Session #2

Going into Saturday afternoon's final qualifying session, the low e.t. was held down by Nick Poloson at 3.954, the #8 qualifier (bottom of the "A" Field) was Keith Jackson at 4.465, and the #16 car (bottom of the "B" field) was Gary Wheeler Jr. at 4.850. Top speed from Friday was clocked by #2 qualifier, and FCC points leader, Ken Singleton at 192.88 mph. With the "Mass Chaos" car of John Umlauf parked with terminal blower problems, just four cars remained to attempt to fight their way into eliminations.

FUNNY CAR CHAOS - Mo-Kan Dragway - Pit Shots

Qualifying Session #3 (FINAL)

Eliminations - Round One

Eliminations - Semi-Finals

Eliminations - Finals

Winners Circle

There's been so much happening in the world of drag racing over the past month that it's been very difficult to keep up with. Changes and cancellations and revisions to schedules have been the predominant theme. However, there has been some racing thrown into the mix with two more NHRA national events at Indianapolis's Lucas Oil Raceway. Yesterday we saw the conclusion of the 66th annual U.S. Nationals (DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA US Nationals to be exact) and the day before, the sixth event on the FUNNY CAR CHAOS schedule went off before a packed crowd at Asbury, Missouri's Mo-Kan Dragway.

We'll start today's update with a look back at qualifying Friday night at Mo-Kan. Details will follow soon. We've also got all the action from Saturday's final qualifying session and eliminations from Mo-Kan. Look for that coverage tomorrow. And, as a special bonus, we've got some great pictures from the Dodge NHRA Indy Nationals in early August. Stay tuned for that report.

Originally scheduled to be run in late April, the "better late than never" axiom applied, as 22 rompin' stompin' Funny Cars invaded Mo-Kan Dragway for the third annual Decades of Wheels event. With this race being the sixth of seven points events on the FCC calendar, it was extremely important for the championship contenders to run well and improve their positions in the standings. We start our coverage with Friday night's first two (of three) qualifying sessions.

We've got some bonus race coverage to present today, as our old (well... he's not that old) friend Bill Jeffery recently attended the third of four NHRA Indy events, the DODGE Nhra Indy Nationals and got some great shots from the grandstand with his new long lens. Having few spectators in the stands helped him avoid the complications of people getting in the way of the images. We'll add the details to go with the pictures when we have time, but for now, here's the first installment of the two-day event.

We'll start our report on the third NHRA Indy Nationals with some qualifying action for the Top Alcohol cars. Details will follow soon....

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Qualifying Session #2

Julie Nataas 5.341 - 266.74

(LEFT) (near lane) Krista Baldwin 5.472 - 265.64 vs (far lane) Mike Bucher 5.356 - 267.80

(RIGHT) (near lane) Will Smith 5.531 - 262.85 vs (far lane) Brandon Greco 6.080 - 182.98

(LEFT) (near lane) Mick Steele 5.369 - 268.87 vs (far lane) Jackie Fricke 5.305 - 274.78

(RIGHT) (near lane) Duane Shields 5.287 - 278.46 vs (far lane) Rachel Meyer 5.175 - 285.53

Rachel Meyer

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #2

(LEFT) (near lane) Tony Bogolo 5.712 - 257.53 vs (far lane) D.J. Cox Jr. 5.627 - 234.98

(RIGHT) Rob Pfeister 5.890 - 242.71

Phil Esz 5.627 - 244.12

MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK - Qualifying Session #1

(LEFT)

(RIGHT)

(LEFT)

(RIGHT)

TOP FUEL HARLEY - Qualifying Session #1

(LEFT)

(RIGHT)

(LEFT)

(RIGHT)

PRO MODIFIED - Qualifying Session #1

(LEFT)

(RIGHT)

PRO STOCK - Qualifying Session #1

(LEFT)

(RIGHT)

(LEFT)

(RIGHT)

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - Qualifying Session #1

(LEFT) (near lane) Angie Smith 6.910 - 195.34 vs (far lane) Angelle Sampey 6.847 - 195.00

(RIGHT) (near lane) Andrew Hines vs 6.855 - 196.93 (far lane) Hector Arana Jr. 6.938 - 195.76

Andrew Hines

FUNNY CAR - Qualifying Session #!

(LEFT) (near lane) Dale Creasy Jr. 4.122 - 280.60 vs (far lane) Mike McIntire Jr. 4.288 - 223.99

(RIGHT) Blake Alexander 4.109 - 308.78

(LEFT) Terry Haddock 4.968 - 158.33

(RIGHT) Cruz Pedregon 5.101 - 144.71

(LEFT) (near Lane0 J.R. Todd 4.020 - 319.67 vs (far lane) Alexis DeJoria 5.494 - 130.32

(RIGHT) (near lane) Matt Hagan 3.982 - 320.81 vs (far lane) Tim Wilkerson 4.735 - 170.99

(near lane) Jack Beckman 4.707 - 170.43 vs (far lane) Tommy Johnson Jr. 3.976 - 318.54

TOP FUEL - Qualifying Session #1

(LEFT) Pat Dakin 4.030 - 275.62

(RIGHT) Terry McMillen 4.299 - 191.29

(LEFT) Antron Brown 3.868 - 311.41

(RIGHT) (near lane) Leah Pruett 3.887 - 314.68 vs (far lane) Doug Kalitta 4.089 - 257.28

Steve Torrence 3.814 - 321.81

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER - Qaulifying Session #3 (FINAL)

(LEFT) Shawn Cowie 5.284 - 276.63

(RIGHT) (near lane) Will Smith 5.527 - 259.66 vs (far lane) Brandon Greco 6.319 - 137.71

(LEFT) Krista Baldwin 7.745 - 112.44

(RIGHT) (near lane) Duane Shields 5.313 - 276.69 vs (far lane) Rachel Meyer 5.237 - 281.95

TOP FUEL HARLEY - Qualifying Session #2

Ryan Peery 6.569 - 210.05

(LEFT) (near lane) Ricky House 6.515 - 211.49 vs (far lane) Tracy Kile 6.615 - 221.20

(RIGHT) Tii Tharpe 7.169 - 146.24

PRO MODIFIED - Qualifying Session #2 (FINAL)

(LEFT) Todd Tutterow 6.019 243.50

(RIGHT) Chip King 5.917 - 244.47

Brandon Snider 6.001 - 240.68

PRO STOCK Qualifying - Session #2 (FINAL)

(near lane) Erica Enders 6.620 - 208.91 vs (far lane) Greg Anderson 6.612 - 207.88

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE Qualifying - Session #2 (FINAL)

Steve Johnson

(LEFT) (near lane) Angie Smith 6.878 - 196.50 vs (far lane) Scotty Pollacheck 6.892 - 195.11

(RIGHT) (near lane) Andrew Hines 6.905 - 196.73 vs (far lane) John Hall 6.908 - 194.32

(LEFT) John Hall

(RIGHT) Ryan Oehler 6.922 - 196.99

FUNNY CAR Qualifying - Session #2 (FINAL)

Cruz Pedregon 3.988 - 316.38

(LEFT) (near lane) Jack Beckman 4.621 - 179.90 vs (far lane) Tim Wilkerson 4.516 - 189.95

(RIGHT) (near lane) Matt Hagan 4.457 - 199.29 vs (far lane) Tommy Johnson Jr. 4.141 - 244.12

TOP FUEL Qualifying - Session #2 (FINAL)

(LEFT) (near lane) Kyle Wurtzel 4.818 - 153.54 vs (far lane) Lex Joon 4.444 - 189.58

(RIGHT) Shawn Langdon 4.187 - 216.69

(LEFT) Justin Ashley 4.586 - 170.06

(RIGHT) Steve Torrence 3.854 - 321.35

SUNDAY - Eliminations

TOP FUEL - Eliminations - Round One

(LEFT) Pat Dakin (near lane) (0.082) 3.837 - 320.74 vs Doug Foley (far lane) (0.089) 3.893 - 270.27

(RIGHT) Doug Kalitta (0.070) 3.767 - 325.85

(LEFT) Lex Joon (0.091) 4.586 - 181.86

(RIGHT) Joe Morrison (0.102) 4.083 - 204.56

(LEFT) Shawn Langdon (near lane) (0.055) 3.839 - 304.19 vs Leah Pruett (far lane) (0.074) 3.749 - 325.53

(RIGHT) Terry Totten (near lane) (-0.020) 4.075 - 282.24 vs Billy Torrence (far lane) (0.085) 3.801 - 314.12

FUNNY CAR - Eliminations - Round One

(LEFT) Tim Wilkerson (0.086) 4.413 - 203.25

(RIGHT) Mike McIntire Jr. (0.092) 4.608 - 187.83

Terry Haddock (0.169) 4.194 - 277.89

PRO STOCK - Eliminations - Round One

Jason Line 0.074 6.607 - 208.33

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE - Eliminations - Round One

Hector Arana Jr. (0.042) - 6.897 - 196.39

(near lane) Jerry Savoie (0.002) 6.920 - 194.46 vs (far lane) Scotty Pollacheck (0.022) 6.861 - 198.29

(LEFT) Scotty Pollacheck

(RIGHT) Matt Smith (0.066) 7.006 - 195.73

Andrew Hines (0.047) 6.902 - 196.85

PRO STOCK - Eliminations - Round Two

(near lane) Chris McGaha (0.031) 6.654 - 207.66 vs (far lane) Jason Line (0.042) 6.632 - 208.01

PRO MODIFIED - Eliminations - Round Two

(near lane) Khalid alBalooshi (0.089) 5.795 - 250.60 vs Jonathan Gray (0.026) 5.834 - 249.35

TOP FUEL HARLEY - Eliminations - Round One

(near lane) Ryan Peery (0.121) 5.515 - 219.04 vs (far lane) Tracy Kile (0.097) 6.619 - 207.34

Tracy Kile

Randal Andras (0.098) 6.467 - 213.68

Tii Tharpe (0.051) 6.522 - 195.56

TOP FUEL - Eliminations - Round Three

(LEFT) (near lane) Leah Pruett (0.084) 3.861 - 316.60 vs (far lane) Steve Torrence (0.078) 3.819 - 320.51

(RIGHT) (near Lane) Terry McMillen (0.071) 4.043 - 282.85 vs (far lane) Doug Kalitta (0.089) 4.059 - 260.41

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